.* 


R©.Y 


IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


ARCHDEACON  CLAEBORNE 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


CLAIBORNE,  William  Stirling,  clergyman; 
ft.  Amherst  Co.,  Va.,  Nov.  11,  li.71;  s.  William 
R.  and  Alice  (Clay)  C.;  Roanoke  Coll.,  1891-7; 
U.  of  South,  1897-1900;  m.  Minnie  M.  Marlow,  of 
Frederick  Co..  July  17,  1902.  Deacon,  1899, 
priest,  1901,  P.E.  Ch.;  rector,  Sewauee,  .Tenn., 
1900-3;  now  archdeacon  of  Sewanee  and  E.Tenn. 
Asso.  editor  Parish  Visitor.  Trustee  U.  of 
South,  1908 — .  Pounder  St.  Andrew's  Sch.  for 
Mountain  Boys,  Sewanee;  reestablished  St. 
Mary's  on  the  Mountain  (industrial  sch.  for 
Kir Is);  establtehed  Emerald-Hodsjson  IIosp. 
Mem,.  Am.  Hist.  Assn..  Sons  Colonial  Govs., 
Phi  Kappa  Alpha  Fraternity.  Author:  Ray  in 
the  Mountains.  1916.  Home:  Sewanee,  Tenn. 
Address:  59  Chamberlain  St.,  Chattanooga, 
Tennessee. 


W 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


BY 
WILLIAM  S.    CLAIBORNE 

ARCHDEACON  OF  TENNESSEE 


NEW  YORK 

EDWIN  S.  GORHAM 
1916 


OOPYKIQHT£D 

1916 

8.  GORHAM 


PZT 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chapter         I.  Roy's  Boyhood  5 

Chapter       II.  Roy's  Adventures  26 

Chapter      III.  Roy's  Education 52 

*J      Chapter      IV.  Roy's  Romance 82 

•  §     Chapter        V.  Roy  and  Aunt  Jane 106 

i 

Chapter      VI.  Roy's  Girls'  School 133 

3      Chapter    VII.  Roy's  Boys'  School 148 

o      Chapter  VIII.  Roy's  Hospital 167 

u,     Chapter      IX.  Roy's  Adult  School 185 

Zv 

q     Chapter        X.  Roy's  Honors 205 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Roy  spent  his  boyhood  among  the  red 
hills  and  gulleys  of  a  Virginia  plantation. 
The  country  had  not  yet  begun  to  rally 
from  the  effects  of  the  Civil  War;  houses 
were  abandoned,  farms  were  neglected 
and  grown  up  in  blackberry  bushes  and 
sassafras,  and  provisions  were  scarce. 
Naturally,  his  father  and  mother  talked 
often  of  the  good  old  times  before  the 
war,  but  their  conversation  had  little  in- 
terest for  the  hungry  growing  boy. 

Bad  as  their  condition  was,  however, 
it  was  made  even  worse  by  an  unex- 
pected calamity  that  fell  upon  them.  A 
man  highly  regarded  by  all  the  people  of 

6 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


the  community  and  trusted  by  Roy's 
parents,  defrauded  the  county  out  of 
thousands  of  dollars  and  escaped  to 
Mexico.  Roy's  father  and  grandfather 
had  to  pay  the  bills.  It  took  everything 
they  had.  Even  the  kitchen  utensils  and 
household  furniture  were  put  up  at  pub- 
lic auction  and  sold.  But  the  bills  were 
paid,  though  there  was  little  left  to  the 
family,  save  honor. 

Just  across  the  road  from  Roy's  home 
stood  a  deserted  house,  which  with  its 
plantation  was  owned  by  a  Northern 
man,  but  had  been  abandoned  during 
those  years  of  strife  and  bloodshed. 
Again  and  again  this  dilapidated  house 
and  those  neglected  fields  had  been  the 
topic  of  conversation  in  Roy's  home. 
The  excitement  and  curiosity  in  the  fam- 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD 


ily  were  intense  when  they  learned  that 
the  owner,  a  Mr.  White,  from  Western 
New  York,  was  to  return  and  take  pos- 
session, having  been  ordered  South  for 
his  health  by  his  family  physician. 

One  cold,  bleak,  rainy  December  day, 
Roy's  father,  having  learned  of  Mr. 
White's  arrival,  hitched  up  his  only  re- 
maining horse,  which  had  been  gener- 
ously left  to  him  by  his  creditors,  and 
went  across  to  see  his  new  neighbor. 
Finding  the  house  bare,  cold  and  damp 
and  discovering  Mr.  White  and  his  wife 
absolutely  at  a  loss  both  for  furniture 
and  food,  "Marse  William,"  as  Roy's 
father  was  called,  insisted  that  the 
strangers  should  come  at  once  to  his 
home  and  stay  with  him. 

"You've  got  to  come  over  with  me,"  he 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


declared  emphatically  in  reply  to  Mr. 
White's  remonstrances,"  and  stay  until 
your  furniture  arrives  and  your  house  is 
made  comfortable.  You  can't  stay  here." 

If  Mr.  White  doubted  the  sincerity  of 
the  offer  he  was  never  given  a  chance  to 
object.  Before  he  could  voice  a  suspicion 
all  were  on  the  way  to  "Marse"  William's 
home. 

During  that  ride  Mr.  White  realized 
that  "Marse"  William  was  acting  uncon- 
sciously from  his  heart;  and  friendship 
was  a  matter  of  minutes  only.  The  pas- 
sage of  time  served  to  strengthen  rather 
than  weaken  its  bonds. 

War  scenes  were  then  vivid  memories, 
instead  of  vague  reminiscences.  The  con- 
flict over,  these  two  soldiers  who  had 
lately  been  fighting  each  other  like 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD 


demons,  would  spend  the  winter  months 
before  the  fire  place  recounting  their 
battlefield  stories,  as  if  they  had  been 
lifelong  acquaintances. 

They  were  surprised  to  learn  in  the 
course  of  their  conversation  that  they 
had  frequently  been  within  shooting 
range  of  each  other.  Once  Roy  remem- 
bered hearing  his  father  ask  Mr.  White: 

"What  position  did  you  hold  at  the 
Battle  of  the  Wilderness?  There  was  a 
mark,  a  pile  of  rails,  I  believe,  in  the  bat- 
tle was  there  not?" 

"Yes,  there  was  a  mark,"  replied  Mr. 
White.  "I  was  at  one  end  of  that  pile." 

"How  strange!  I  was  at  the  other 
end,"  Roy's  father  remarked. 

And  the  two  men  looked  at  each  other 
with  tears  in  their  eyes. 


10  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

The  war  over,  they  felt  free,  each  to 
tell  his  own  story  without  fear  of  giving 
offense  and  without  personal  bitterness, 
with  the  spirit  of  a  true  soldier.  This, 
however,  did  not  interest  the  rest  of  the 
family  as  much  as  it  did  Roy. 

The  two  men  became  inseparable  on 
the  Virginia  plantation,  and  so  remained 
throughout  their  lives.  Mr.  White  and 
Marse  William  both  failed  as  practical 
farmers,  for  neither  knew  anything 
about  it 

Marse  William  had  lived  on  the  plan- 
tation until  he  went  to  college.  After 
graduating  he  went  into  business.  The 
farm  did  not  appeal  to  him.  He  was  a 
better  business  man  than  farmer,  but 
the  war  had  forced  him  to  return  to  the 
old  plantation. 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD  11 

Mr.  White  was  not  a  college  man,  but 
he  had  known  something  of  farming  in 
Western  New  York.  His  knowledge, 
however,  did  him  but  little  good  in  this 
locality.  He  was  an  expert  on  corn  and 
wheat,  but  hardly — on  tobacco. 

The  final  result  of  the  situation  was 
that  they  gave  up  their  farms,  and  Roy's 
father  with  his  family,  moved  to  a  city 
of  twenty  thousand  inhabitants. 

For  a  while  the  city  was  very  attrac- 
tive to  Roy.  His  brother  secured  em- 
ployment, but  Roy  was  unfortunate.  He 
could  get  nothing  to  do,  and  loafed  about 
the  city  until  worn  out.  His  new  world 
soon  became  old.  Finally,  one  day  while 
standing  near  the  railroad  station  he  en- 
tered into  conversation  with  a  gentleman 
who  told  him  that  if  he  would  go  to 


II  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

Clinch  Valley,  where  Roy's  new-found 
friend  was  building  a  railroad,  to  con- 
nect the  Norfolk  &  Western  with  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad,  he 
would  give  him  a  position  as  commissary 
clerk  and  timekeeper  for  his  company. 
They  started  one  evening  and  after 
traveling  all  night,  and  the  following  day 
and  night,  finally  arrived  at  the  camp  of 
Meloise.  The  position  Roy  had  been 
promised,  was,  to  his  amazement  and 
keen  disappointment,  already  filled. 
There  was  no  other  work  than  to  shovel 
stone  in  a  tunnel  with  negroes  under  an 
Irish  boss  named  Mulligan.  Roy  found 
himself  tricked  by  the  stranger  of  the 
station,  but  it  was  shovel  or  starve.  He 
shoveling  rock  in  such  a  tunnel  twelve 
he  went. 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD  13 

Working  in  the  head  of  a  tunnel  too 
low  to  stand  in,  is  no  easy  task,  but 
shoveling  rock  in  such  a  tunnel  twelve 
hours  a  day  was  almost  intolerable. 
Nevertheless  he  did  the  daily  tasks  as- 
signed him,  with  a  spirit  that  struck 
even  Mulligan.  It  was  inevitable  that 
he  should  be  promoted,  and  he  was.  His 
new  job  was  to  drive  a  mule  and  a  cart 
which  sometimes  ran  on  a  track.  It 
generally  ran  off,  and  thereby  hangs  a 
tale.  He  always  had  to  wait  for  help 
from  the  head  of  the  tunnel.  While 
waiting,  his  mind  would  run  back  to  the 
country  home,  where  his  mother  toiled 
day  by  day,  helping  her  devoted  husband 
to  make  both  ends  meet.  Before  he  left 
home,  his  mother  had  often  expressed 
a  wish  that  she  could  provide  a  college 


14  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

education  for  her  sons.  To  such  thoughts 
his  mind  went  back  as  he  waited  for  first 
aid  to  the  helpless  cart  off  the  track. 
But  it  was  idle  to  think  of  what  might 
have  happened  in  the  splendor  of  the  old 
days  before  the  war.  He  had  to  make 
the  best  of  things  as  they  were,  and  that 
is  what  he  was  trying  to  do  under  Mulli- 
gan. 

As  has  already  been  said,  he  was 
gradually  advancing.  The  last  promo- 
tion put  him  in  command  of  twenty  men, 
five  mules  and  as  many  cart  boys. 
Things  were  a  bit  easier  now,  but  he  was 
not  destined  to  stay.  He  was  suddenly  at- 
tacked with  measles.  Everyone  thought 
it  was  smallpox.  Terror  reigned  in  the 
camp.  Mulligan  declared:  "Bejabers! 
Oill  fix  *im."  Going  out  into  the  moun- 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD  16 

tains  he  managed  to  get  some  peach 
brandy,  made  a  steaming  stew,  brought 
it  to  the  patient,  and  snapped  out: 
"Begor-r-ry,  dhrink  it  down." 
Mulligan's  prescription  did  its  work, 
and  the  measles  came  out  all  the  more 
angrily.  Roy  was  put  to  bed  in  a  log 
hut,  where  the  roof  was  sorely  in  need 
of  repairs.  When  it  rained  he  had  to 
turn  around  to  keep  the  drops  of  rain 
from  falling  in  his  face.  Morning  and 
night,  Mulligan  and  his  sub-foreman 
would  troop  noisily  into  the  sick  room, 
swearing  like  sailors,  calling  out  to  Roy 
to  know  if  he  were  dead  yet.  Finding 
he  was  still  in  the  land  of  the  living,  they 
would  then  try  to  persuade  him  to  will 
them  his  boots  and  trousers  if  he  did  die. 
With  all  this  crudeness  there  was  a  big 


16  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

red  heart  in  every  one  of  them.  They 
watched  by  Roy's  bed  day  and  night,  and 
every  wish  of  his  was  gratified,  if  in 
their  power  to  bring  it  about.  Though 
naturally  rough,  they  tried  to  be  gentle. 
They  realized  that  the  sick  lad  was  away 
from  home  and  his  loved  ones. 

One  day  Mike  Mulligan  sent  forty 
miles  for  a  doctor,  but  though  he  found 
him,  the  doctor  failed  to  come.  The 
worthy  M.  D.  had  heard  rumors  of  small- 
pox, and  sent  the  messenger  back  with 
the  words: 

"Am  engaged  on  another  case." 
A  second  time  Mulligan  sent,  and 
again  the  messenger  returned  empty- 
handed.  Mulligan  received  the  message 
silently;  but  he  was  in  deadly  earnest 
now. 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD  17 

"There  be  just  two  powers  to  move  a 
doctor,  the  power  of  fear  and  the  power 
of  money.  Oi  haven't  the  power  of 
money  in  me;  but  Oi  have  the  power  of 
fear;  and  that  doctor  is  going  to  find  it 
out." 

And  when  Mulligan  returned  to  camp 
ten  hours  later  it  was  to  bring  the  ob- 
ject of  so  much  strife — medical  instru- 
ments— blackened  eyes  and  all — along 
with  him.  "He  is  sint  fur,  he'll  come  and 
not  loi  aboot  it."  Turning  to  the  men 
around  him,  Mike  said  with  a  grin:  "Ye 
would  ha-rdly  rekinoize  him  now.  He's 
out  of  sh-ape." 

Mike  was  always  faithful  to  Roy. 
There  was  nothing  he  would  not  do. 
And  he  almost  wept  one  night  when  he 

thought  Roy  was  about  to  breathe  his 
a 


18  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

last  Mike  prayed  as  never  before  that 
Roy  might  be  spared.  The  prayer  was 
answered.  Roy  began  to  improve,  and 
after  six  weeks  it  was  thought  best  for 
him  to  start  homeward.  Finding  that  he 
had  earned  enough  wages  to  pay  his  rail- 
road fare,  the  start  was  about  to  be 
made.  But  the  railroad  was  seventy 
miles  away  from  the  camp.  There  was 
no  conveyance.  The  only  way  to  get  to 
the  railroad  station  was  to  walk  the  en- 
tire distance.  In  Roy's  weakened  condi- 
tion that  was  a  colossal  undertaking.  But 
the  same  spirit  that  inspired  him  at  all 
times  strengthened  him  now.  With  two 
negroes  he  started  out  on  his  perilous 
journey  over  the  mountain  roads. 

Every  cabin  on  the  way  was  closed  to 
him,   as   he   was   suspected   of   having 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD  19 

smallpox.  The  negroes,  however,  clung 
to  him  like  two  faithful  brothers,  carry- 
ing his  luggage,  helping  him  along  when 
too  faint  to  walk.  Late  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  first  day  he  started  for  a  log  hut 
to  see  if  he  could  get  accommodations 
for  the  night  An  old  woman  stood  in 
the  door  with  her  hand  leaning  to  the 
top.  As  he  neared  the  door,  the  moun- 
tain woman  pulled  down  her  rifle  and 
said:  "If  you  come  in,  sir,  I  will  shoot 
you."  She  too  thought  that  Roy  had 
the  smallpox.  He  did  not  stop  to  argue 
with  her,  for  a  rifle  in  the  hands  of  a 
mountaineer,  whether  man  or  woman,  is 
worse  than  smallpox  or  any  other  dis- 
ease. The  travellers  soon  saw  that  it 
was  out  of  the  question  to  gain  admit- 
tance into  any  mountain  home.  Con- 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


tinuing  to  journey  up  the  mountain  side 
to  a  clear  space,  the  negroes  made  ready 
for  the  night,  gathering  up  dry  wood 
and  building  a  roaring  fire  against  the 
black  background  of  the  night.  They 
were  tenderly  careful  of  their  compan- 
ion, and  looked  after  his  comforts  as 
though  he  were  a  sick  child.  The  fire 
burned  beautifully,  and  when  the  night 
was  far  spent,  the  moon  began  to  shine 
in  all  her  queenly  splendor.  A  glorious 
night  it  was.  The  owls  were  attracted 
by  the  fire,  and  Roy  could  hear  the  big 
hooting  owls  talking  and  laughing,  chat- 
tering away  as  nonsensically  as  the  fash- 
ionable leaders  in  a  reception  line  held 
in  honor  of  the  newest  debutante.  Oc- 
casionally a  screech  owl  could  be  heard 
chiming  in,  much  like  the  elder  sister 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD  81 

buzzing  around  the  debutante.  The  ne- 
groes were  frightened  out  of  their  wits, 
for  they  thought  that  panthers  were 
roaming  the  mountain  forests,  and  they 
took  turns  watching  to  keep  the  beasts 
away.  They  did  not  seem  to  know  that 
wild  animals  keep  away  from  fire  or 
light.  Besides  they  might  as  well  have 
slept  in  peace,  for  Roy  was  watching.  He 
could  not  sleep.  He  was  tired,  sore  and 
sick.  The  ground  was  cold  and  hard  as 
a  rock.  Turn  as  he  might,  no  sleep  could 
be  had. 

Rising  early  the  next  morning,  they 
continued  their  journey  to  the  railroad 
station.  Late  in  the  afternoon,  as  they 
approached  the  outskirts  of  a  village, 
the  clouds  gathered  thick  and  the  snow 
began  to  fall  in  large  flakes  on  dry, 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


frozen  ground,  ready  for  a  lasting  snow. 
Roy  in  his  weakness  would  slip  and  fall, 
get  up,  only  to  lose  his  footing  again, 
until  at  last  his  black-skinned  compan- 
ions landed  him  with  might  and  main  in 
a  deserted  cabin  just  a  few  rods  from  a 
similar  cabin  occupied  by  negroes.  They 
proved  good  Samaritans,  indeed,  as  they 
offered  the  first  hospitality  of  the  jour- 
ney. The  night  passed,  and  an  early 
start  was  made  the  next  morning,  this 
time  with  a  rickety  horse  loaned  by  the 
black  Samaritans.  Spending  the  entire 
day,  the  party  reached  their  long-desired 
station.  About  one  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing the  train  arrived.  The  only  way  Roy 
could  board  a  car,  was  by  his  compan- 
ions picking  him  up  and  putting  him  in 
it,  They  travelled  all  night  and  part  of 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD 


the  next  day  before  they  arrived  in  the 
hill  city,  where  Roy's  parents  lived. 
Here  he  bade  his  black  friends,  who 
went  on,  a  last,  grateful  farewell. 

Roy  got  off  the  train  and  tried  to  walk 
home,  but  found  it  impossible.  Still  very 
weak,  he  was  obliged  to  sit  down  on  the 
curbing  of  the  sidewalk.  He  was  so 
changed  through  sickness  and  exposure 
and  the  various  hardships  of  the  journey 
that  no  one  in  the  little  city  recognized 
him.  A  policeman  came  along  and  ar- 
rested him  for  vagrancy,  and  the  'cop* 
would  not  believe  his  words  of  explana- 
tion. Calling  a  carriage,  he  took  Roy 
to  the  Mayor's  Office.  When  Roy  was 
finally  identified  by  his  Honor,  the 
Mayor,  the  police  officer  was  ordered  to 
assist  him  home.  There  his  astonished 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


parents  scarcely  knew  him,  but  they  re- 
joiced over  his  return.  It  is  certain  that 
Roy  was  happy,  too.  The  next  day  the 
doctor  was  summoned  and  it  was  dis- 
covered that  Roy  had  pneumonia.  A 
few  more  weeks  of  illness  was  his  lot, 
and  but  for  his  mother's  unfailing  de- 
votion, Roy  could  not  have  lived.  His 
mother  kept  her  vigilant  watch  night 
and  day,  never  leaving  the  room  until 
he  had  passed  the  crisis.  The  doctors 
had  decided  after  consultation  that  it 
was  no  use  fighting  the  battle  any 
longer;  the  disease  would  certainly  take 
him  off,  it  was  thought.  But  one  doctor 
demurred,  saying:  "As  long  as  he 
breathes,  I'll  stay."  This  encouraged 
the  mother,  and  both  watched  him  anx- 
iously until  the  change  for  the  better 


ROY'S  BOYHOOD  25 

came.  Their  joy  was  unspeakable.  They 
had  conquered  an  almost  unconquerable 
malady.  Little  by  little  he  improved,  un- 
til the  doctor  discharged  him.  He  was 
told  he  must  remain  away  from  the 
mountains.  Had  he  obeyed,  there  might 
have  been  a  different  story. 

Roy  secured  work  for  a  short  while, 
but  laborers  were  plentiful  and  work 
quite  scarce.  Trying  the  city  again  he 
found  the  smoke,  bustle  and  filth  im- 
possible. He  longed  for  the  country,  the 
birds  and  the  wild  animals.  Even  the 
snakes  had  a  fascination  for  him,  if  he 
could  only  see  them  crawl.  Something 
alive,  even  wildly  alive,  out  in  the  open 
was  sure  to  attract  him. 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Becoming  restless  in  the  city,  Roy  met 
by  chance  another  railroad  man  in  pos- 
session of  a  valuable  contract  on  the  Big 
Sandy.  He  persuaded  Roy  to  go  with 
him  as  a  bookkeeper.  Roy  decided  he 
would  try  it  again,  and  out  they  started, 
travelling  all  day  and  night.  Reaching 
Ocohontas  the  next  day,  they  went  down 
the  Elk  Horn  to  the  camp,  arriving  on 
the  20th  day  of  December. 

The  contractors,  bosses  and  clerks,  in 
fact  all  the  white  men,  were  winding  up 
their  business  for  the  year,  and  getting 
off  for  the  Christmas  holidays.  They  left 
the  greenest  youngster  in  the  country  in 

96 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  87 

charge  of  about  five  hundred  negroes 
and  fifty  mules.  The  only  white  people 
left  behind  were  the  doctor,  attached  to 
a  coal  company  plant,  and  two  foremen 
of  the  same  company. 

A  lonesome  mortal  was  Roy  as  he 
realized  that  all  this  business  must  be 
managed  by  him.  He  scarcely  knew 
which  way  to  turn,  but  gritting  his 
teeth  and  closing  his  eyes,  he  went  at  it 
and  did  his  best. 

On  Christmas  Eve  it  seemed  to  him 
that  everybody  on  the  mountain  was 
drunk. 

The  time  had  well  passed  two  in  the 
morning  when  the  first  signs  of  life  came 
in  close  proximity  to  the  cabin.  A 
steady  tramping  of  feet  approached,  and 
then  there  followed  a  knocking  at  the 
door. 


28  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

Fully  alive  to  thoughts  of  self-preser- 
vation, Roy  grabbed  a  revolver  from  its 
holster  and  called  out: 

"Who  are  you,  and  what  do  you 
want?" 

It  was  the  customary  mountaineer 
greeting. 

"Fm  old  Lewis,  and  in  trouble." 

"Come  in,"  he  shouted,  throwing  his 
gun  aside  on  the  cot. 

The  aged  mountaineer  entered  quietly. 
His  trouble  was  simple  enough.  Not 
realizing  the  difference  between  the  rail- 
road bridge  and  any  ordinary  bridge, 
he  had  attempted  to  ride  horseback 
across  the  railway  bridge,  with  the  re- 
sult that  his  mount  had  fallen  through 
and  was  straddled  on  the  ties.  It  was 
only  a  few  minutes'  work  to  revolve  the 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES 


derrick  and  extract  the  struggling  ani- 
mal; but  to  old  Lewis  it  was  the  miracle 
of  ages. 

He  turned  to  Roy  in  open  eyed  wonder, 
and  would  listen  to  no  modest  explana- 
tions. "Yuh  have  got  some  sense,  suh, 
to  think  of  that.  Have  a  drink  with  old 
Lewis." 

Roy  explained  that  he  never  drank. 

For  the  second  time  in  five  minutes 
genuine  amazement  shone  from  old 
Lewis'  eyes.  Then  he  clapped  his  side 
and  extended  a  horny  palm  that  Roy 
silently  shook. 

"I'm  glad  to  hear  it,  suh.  That's  right, 
don't  you  drink.  If  you  drink  with  one 
and  don't  drink  with  another  you  get 
into  trouble.  If  you  drink  with  all  these 
folks  here  you  will  get  drunk.  And  if 


30  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

you  get  drunk,  you  will  get  into  a  row. 
An'  if  you  get  into  a  row  somebody  is 
going  to  get  killed,  sir.  These  folks  can 
shoot  better  than  you'uns,  for  there 
haint  a  mountaineer  in  the  country  that 
can't  shoot  better  than  these  furriners. 
So  take  old  Lewis'  advice  and  never 
touch  a  drop." 

Old  Lewis  was  known  throughout  the 
country  as  an  irritable  rascal,  who  fol- 
lowing a  path  directly  contrary  to  his 
wholesome  advice,  had  got  into  quite  a 
few  rows  with  these  same  "furriners." 
His  continued  existence  was  a  living 
testimonial  to  his  own  utterance  that 
"any  mountaineer  can  shoot  better  than 
these  furriners."  Also  that  some  moun- 
taineers can  shoot  better  than  others. 

Save  for  a  mere  handful  of  men,  the 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  II 

camp  was  entirely  ignorant  of  these 
early  morning  proceedings,  and  it  must 
have  been  a  shock  for  their  mental  self- 
control  when  they  rambled  in  for  break- 
fast, to  find  the  hardened  mountaineer, 
who  was  never  known  to  have  uttered 
two  civil  words  to  a  stranger  in  his  life, 
quietly  sitting  at  his  meal  with  the 
young  foreman.  Comments  among  the 
men  were  numerous.  "Hard"  Alverson 
noticed  the  couple  just  in  time  to  choke 
on  a  cup  of  hot  coffee. 

"The ,"  and  he  hastily  arose  and 

stumped  around  the  fire.  "To  think  o' 
or  Lewis  actin  like  this.  Yas,  if  I  had'nt 
been  here  for  ten  minutes  and  a-seen 
nothin'  happen,  Fd  have  given  that 
youngster  just  fifty  seconds  to  breathe." 

The  general  verdict  was  harsh  enough : 


82  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

that  old  Lewis  had  never  been  known  to 
carry  on  like  this  before.  But  the  great- 
est surprise  of  all  still  awaited  them. 

As  old  Lewis  rose  to  leave,  he  turned 
to  Roy,  and,  in  a  tone  audible  all  over 
the  camp,  spoke  his  little  oration: — 

"I  ain't  no  man  of  letters,  but  there's 

one  thing  I  can  spell,  and  that's  friend- 

t 

ship.    If  anybody  round  here — no  matter 

who  he  be — bothers  ye,  it's  my  fight." 

To  Roy  there  were  bands  playing,  and 
bugles  sounding,  and  fireworks  going  off 
as  he  heard  this  speech.  An  expression 
of  support  like  this  from  a  man  of  old 
Lewis'  influence  among  the  mountain 
community  was  just  what  he  needed. 

There  were  land  concessions  to  be  ad- 
justed amicably,  right-of-ways  to  be  se- 
cured, and  hostile  forces  to  be  won  over. 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  38 

The  support  of  old  Lewis  meant  much 
to  him. 

The  job  being  finished,  Roy  moved 
down  the  river  forty  miles  further  to 
close  up  other  work  that  had  been  in 
progress  for  several  years.  In  getting 
moved,  winding  up  the  affairs  of  the 
company,  and  settling  down  to  business 
again,  he  became  a  Jack-of-all-Trades. 
He  was  paymaster,  civil  engineer,  stable 
boy,  commissary  clerk  and  a  handy-andy 
at  everything.  He  had  to  attend  to  all 
the  money,  pay  off  all  the  men  and  settle 
up  accounts.  One  day  he  became  lone- 
some. He  got  on  a  mule  and  rode  up  to 
the  camp  of  a  neighbor.  The  river  be- 
ing high  he  was  unable  to  ford  it.  He 
tied  the  mule  fast  and  walked  across  the 
little  trestle,  then  a  mile  to  the  camp, 

3 


84  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

where  he  found  some  people  ripe  for 
conversation.  There  was  nothing  to  read 
in  this  country,  not  even  patent  medicine 
signs,  and  one  gets  frightfully  lonesome 
without  anything  to  do.  The  work  was 
all  caught  up.  They  talked  until  late, 
and  Roy  realized  that  darkness  had  over- 
taken him.  People  there  never  stay  out 
after  dark,  but  Roy  had  to  get  back  to 
his  camp.  He  started  down  the  road, 
keeping  in  the  middle  all  the  way.  When 
he  got  nearly  across  the  trestle,  a  man 
swore  at  him  and  ordered  him  to  stop. 
Roy  replied:  "Alright,"  but  continued 
to  move.  A  second  time  the  order  came. 
By  this  time  Roy  had  reached  the  ground 
on  the  other  side.  It  was  so  dark  he 
could  not  see  an  inch  beyond  his  nose. 
Roy  knew  his  only  hope  was  in  running, 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  85 

and  run  he  did,  with  the  man  shooting  at 
him.  He  knew  it  would  be  a  mere  acci- 
dent if  he  were  shot  in  the  darkness,  and 
that  if  he  stayed  there  he  certainly 
would  be  killed.  The  man  followed, 
shooting  as  he  ran.  Roy  seemed  bullet- 
proof as  he  sped  along  faster  than  the 
cartridges. 

Mounting  his  mule,  they  never  stopped 
until  they  reached  camp.  Roy  called  to 
the  stable  boy  to  put  the  mule  away.  An 
hour  later,  the  old  rascal  who  had  been 
chasing  Roy  came  into  the  office  and  sat 
and  talked  with  him  as  quietly  as  if  noth- 
ing had  happened.  The  old  man  knew 
that  Roy  was  the  one  he  was  after,  but 
he  didn't  know  that  Roy  knew  him,  and 
one  can  bet  that  Roy  didn't  tell  him. 


86  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

They  had  a  very  pleasant  chat  and  the 
old  man  went  on  his  journey. 

A  few  days  later,  old  Lewis  rode  up  to 
Roy's  office  and  inquired  of  Roy  whether 
or  not  someone  had  tried  to  hold  him  up. 
Roy  replied  that  some  man  had  tried  to 
have  some  fun  with  him,  and  he  had  it. 
Lewis  reared  back  on  his  horse  and  stick- 
ing his  spurs  well  in  him,  remarked: 
4There  haint  room  enough  in  this 

county   fur    me    and    that    there  

scoundrel  Well,  I  promised  to  do  your 
fighting,  and  my  word  is  as  good  as  my 
bond,  sir."  Roy  replied:  "Let  him  alone, 
let  him  alone."  Lewis  persisted,  but 
fortunately  for  the  fellow,  a  man  stand- 
ing a  little  way  off  whom  Lewis  did  not 
see,  heard  the  conversation  and  told 
Roy's  night  friend  that  Lewis  was  after 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  87 

him  and  that  he  had  better  look  out.  He 
took  the  advice  and  never  returned  to 
the  county  again.  He  knew  perfectly 
well  that  if  he  did  he  would  be  received 
by  a  bullet.  Lewis  was  always  on  the 
watch,  his  eyes  and  ears  were  open,  and 
had  the  fellow  ever  returned,  a  first-class 
funeral  would  have  been  conducted  at 
Long  Pole. 

To  expect  the  average  outsider  to 
sympathize  with  the  ethics  of  the  Ten- 
nessee mountaineer,  would  be  as  un- 
natural as  for  a  dog  to  twist  his  own 
tail.  To  the  stoic  he  is  a  bundle  of  ec- 
centricities ;  to  the  prohibitionist,  he  rep- 
resents a  large  bottle  of  the  "still" 
enemy;  and  to  the  superficial  Christian 
he  stands  embodied  as  everything  that 
ought  not  to  be.  To  the  ordinary  short 

443320 


88  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

story  writer  he  is  human,  because  he 
possesses  eyes,  ears,  hands  and  a  nose, 
and  speaks  a  language  resembling  Eng- 
lish, and  is  good  at  any  time  for  three 
thousand  words  at  magazine  rates. 

The  few  people  who  have  introspec- 
tively  put  themselves  in  the  place  of  a 
native  of  the  Cumberland  range,  have 
realized  that  he  is  a  normal  being:  the 
perfect  product  of  first,  half  a  century 
of  neglect,  and  later,  half  a  century  of 
spoliation.  What  these  children  of  the 
mountains  have  learned  during  that  time 
is  merely  that  "God  helps  those  who  help 
themselves."  Add  to  this  the  perverted 
maxim  "Do  your  neighbor  as  he  would 
do  you,"  and  you  have  the  mountaineers' 
code  of  iron-handed  feudalism  down  to  a 
science.  The  one  justification  for  such  a 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  39 

standard  is  its  universal  spread  in  the 
mountains.  It  holds  for  everyone  and 
favors  no  one. 

In  the  mountain  hollows  which  lend 
themselves  naturally  to  fortifications, 
the  mountaineer  had  found  it  convenient 
to  protect  himself  from  the  Indians  on 
the  one  side,  and  a  purely  imaginary 
movement  of  the  plainsmen  on  the  other 
side.  The  people  of  the  plain  never  had 
any  idea  of  trying  to  rout  them  from 
their  former  homes  until  recently,  since 
the  discovery  of  coal  and  oil.  The  felling 
of  the  forest  has  also  added  its  mite,  at- 
tracting the  foreigner  in  an  attempt  to 
get  possession  of  this  whole  country.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Indians  in  the  old 
days  were  continually  pressing  in  and 
massacring  the  mountaineer. 


40  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

This  accounts  for  the  way  their  houses 
are  built,  with  no  windows,  two  doors,  a 
small  porthole  by  the  fireplace  with  a 
sliding  board  to  cover  it.  When  one  goes 
to  a  man's  house  and  shouts,  the  inmate 
sits  quietly  by  the  fire  and  answers: 
"What  do  you  want  and  who  are  you?" 
When  they  recognize  the  voice  of  the 
visitor  as  that  of  a  friend,  they  invite 
him  in,  perhaps  never  moving  from  their 
fireplace.  They  offer  a  chair,  even  though 
it  may  be  the  only  one  they  have,  while 
they  squat  on  the  floor  by  the  fireplace 
and  make  you  at  home.  The  moun- 
taineer, or  highlander,  never  apologizes 
for  what  he  has  or  has  not,  but  does  the 
best  he  can  for  you,  dividing  his  last 
morsel  of  bread.  Riding  through  the 
mountains  when  night  comes  you  stop 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  41 

at  a  friend's  house  and  spend  the  night. 
This  is  often  kept  up  for  several  days 
and  nights  before  one  gets  back  to  one's 
own  house,  especially  if  he  is  fishing  or 
hunting.  This  is  the  best  way  to  really 
know  the  mountaineer,  when  he  enjoys 
having  you. 

One  day  Lewis  came  by  Roy's  office 
and  spoke  to  him  about  a  gun.  Roy  re- 
marked: "The  gun  is  gone."  Lewis  re- 
plied: "Mine  never  fails  to  shoot,"  and 
rode  off  perfectly  cool,  sober  and  de- 
liberate. Roy  realized  that  trouble  was 
at  hand,  but  how  to  prevent  it  was  more 
than  he  could  discover.  After  Lewis  had 
ridden  off,  Roy  decided  to  go  down  the 
road  to  see  what  the  trouble  was  and  if 
by  chance  he  might  be  able  to  do  some- 
thing to  prevent  it.  He  saw  Lewis  ride 


4»  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

down  to  Benton  River,  get  off  his  horse, 
tie  him  some  distance  away,  walk  quietly 
to  the  squire's  house,  and — enter.  Roy 
knew  there  would  be  no  trouble  in  the 
house,  as  there  was  no  unpleasantness 
between  the  man  who  occupied  the  house 
and  Lewis.  He  waited  and  wondered 
what  was  up.  It  was  not  very  long  be- 
fore a  man  came  down  the  ravine,  whom 
Roy  recognized  as  old  Lewis's  nephew. 
Roy  also  knew  there  was  no  trouble  be- 
tween these  two.  But  the  clan  was 
gathering,  and  if  the  opponents  came, 
there  would  be  trouble.  Roy  remem- 
bered that  young  Lewis  had  had  some 
trouble  with  his  wife,  and  that  the  wife 
had  been  taken,  which  was  unusual 
among  the  highlanders,  by  a  man  named 
Hiram,  who  did  not  live  far  from  the 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES 


house  where  the  two  Lewises  were  to 
meet.  Roy  watched  young  Lewis  as  he 
walked  slowly  down  past  the  house,  and 
as  he  cleared  the  house,  Roy  saw  the 
heads  of  five  men  beyond  the  bank  of  the 
river.  A  shot  was  fired  from  the  river 
and  young  Lewis  fell  dead.  The  men  who 
had  murdered  the  young  man,  feeling 
quite  confident  that  they  were  now  safe, 
came  walking  slowly  up  to  the  squire's 
house,  as  if  they  had  done  no  more  than 
shoot  a  bird,  and  were  proceeding  to  get 
the.  game,  not  realizing  that  inside  the 
house  was  the  uncle  of  the  man  just 
killed.  The  report  of  the  gun  attracted 
old  Lewis  and  the  squire.  Old  Lewis,  with 
an  awful  oath,  walked  out  with  gun  in 
hand,  firing  as  he  approached  the  five 
men.  Four  times  he  shot  and  four  men 


44  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

fell  dead.  The  fifth  had  but  little  nerve 
and  ran  away.  The  bank  of  the  river 
was  close  by,  and  he  was  soon  protected. 
He  never  stopped  for  a  moment  to  see 
what  had  happened  to  his  brothers,  for 
when  a  man  begins  to  run,  there  is  little 
hope  of  his  stopping  to  see  what  has  hap- 
pened behind  him. 

Lewis  did  not  pursue  him,  but  stood 
facing  the  coward  who  had  run  away, 
for  he  was  the  individual  who  had  caused 
the  trouble.  If  Lewis  had  had  the  op- 
portunity he  would  have  killed  him  also. 
But  for  a  moment  he  turned  and  came 
to  Roy  and  said:  "I  wish  you  would 
bury  Lewis."  Roy  asked  what  had  hap- 
pened. Lewis  responded :  "Nothing  much. 
My  only  regret  is  that  I  did  not  kill  the 
damned  coward  first"  He  did'nt  seem 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  46' 

to  be  excited,  but  was  sober,  cool  and  de- 
liberate. These  people  rarely  take  a 
drink  when  a  battle  as  this  is  to  be 
fought  out.  Roy  got  some  negroes,  made 
a  box,  and  blackened  it  with  some  shoe 
polish.  What  on  earth  they  had  shoe 
polish  for  is  hard  to  tell,  for  it  is  an  un- 
necessary article  for  engineers  and  rail- 
road men  in  the  mountains.  However, 
he  had  it  and  used  it  on  the  coffin.  This 
attracted  the  attention  of  all  the  neigh- 
bors. They  thought  it  was  the  nicest 
thing  they  had  ever  seen.  The  next  day 
Roy  buried  young  Lewis.  Shortly  after 
the  funeral,  a  message  was  sent  to  Roy, 
asking  him  if  he  would  bury  the  four 
men  who  had  been  lying  in  the  squire's 
house  untouched,  except  for  being  car- 
ried from  the  place  where  they  had  been 


46  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

killed  to  the  floor  of  the  squire's  house. 
He  replied  that  he  would,  and  gathering 
around  him  the  same  crew  of  negroes 
that  had  buried  Lewis,  he  went  to  work 
making  four  boxes.  The  boxes  made, 
the  question  arose  about  blackening 
them,  for  all  the  blacking  in  camp  had 
been  used  for  Lewis'  coffin,  and  to  show 
any  distinction  would  have  been  an  in- 
sult in  that  region.  One  of  the  negroes 
fell  upon  a  scheme  of  boiling  some  roots 
and  bark  and  making  paint,  which  they 
did  successfully.  The  funeral  from  the 
painters'  standpoint  at  any  rate  was  a 
success. 

The  people  of  the  community  took 
sides  with  Lewis  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  an  unfair  battle  of  five  to  one. 
Young  Lewis  was  killed  with  five  men 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  47 

against  him,  and  when  old  Lewis  ap- 
peared there  were  still  five  men  against 
him.  This  shows  their  idea  of  justice, 
crudely  measured  out.  Lewis  was  al- 
lowed to  go,  for  no  one  would  interfere 
with  a  man  who  had  fought  five  and  de- 
feated them. 

In  this  battle,  Roy  was  made  a  friend 
of  by  both  sides.  He  had  to  be  very 
careful  of  what  he  said  or  did  for  fear 
of  making  enemies  on  one  side  or  the 
other.  Had  he  taken  or  felt  like  tak- 
ing sides  with  either,  it  would  not  have 
been  healthy  for  him.  In  order  to  make 
friends,  to  be  successful  among  the  people 
of  the  mountains,  and  have  influence — 
two  things  are  necessary;  one  is,  never 
to  drink  or  take  sides,  and  the  other  is  to 
give  good,  strong,  wholesome,  straight- 


48  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

forward  advice  and  never  waver.  The 
mountaineer  sees  honesty,  fearlessness 
and  straightforwardness  in  one's  eyes. 
He  looks  you  straight  in  the  eye  and 
through  you,  understanding  more  per- 
haps from  the  expression  of  the  eye  and 
of  the  countenance,  than  the  language 
used. 

The  work  was  being  finished,  and  the 
end  of  Roy's  life  at  Big  Sandy  was  draw- 
ing to  a  close.  The  track  was  laid  and 
the  trains  running  over  the  newly  made 
road.  Everything  was  packed  and  ready 
to  move  out,  when  an  officer  of  the  law 
served  notice  that  the  materials  were  all 
attached.  A  man  had  brought  suit 
against  the  contractor  for  having  thrown 
some  big  stone  *  into  a  small  level  spot. 
What  to  do  the  contractor  was  at  a  loss 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  49 

to  know.  In  despair  he  went  to  his  old 
friend  Lewis,  who  had  promised  to  take 
care  of  him.  Lewis  said:  "Never  mind, 
I'll  take  care  of  that.  Tomorrow  at  ten 
o'clock  we'll  settle  this  business.  Meet 
me  at  the  big  walnut  in  the  bend  of  the 
river."  At  ten  o'clock  the  next  day  they 
were  all  gathered  under  the  big  walnut, 
the  sun  pleasant  and  the  day  delightful. 
The  magistrate  was  there,  and  shortly 
came  a  lawyer,  his  saddle  pockets  filled 
with  what  looked  like  a  great  law  library. 
What  the  lawyer  intended  doing  with 
these  books  was  hard  to  understand. 
Neither  the  judge  nor  the  men  present 
could  read.  A  bluff  it  might  be,  but 
these  people  were  not  easily  bluffed.  One 
could  only  wait  and  watch  the  move- 
ments and  learn  what  was  to  happen. 

4 


50  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

The  lawyer  dismounted  and  took  off  the 
saddle  pockets  very  carefully,  showing 
that  they  did  not  contain  books,  went 
down  under  the  bank  of  the  river,  called 
a  few  of  the  men,  the  men  answering 
promptly.  After  imbibing  freely  of  the 
law  of  the  mountain,  the  case  was  heard. 

By  the  time  the  witnesses  were  all 
through,  the  crowd  was  in  a  jolly  mood. 
The  magistrate  stated  that  he  could  not 
see  where  the  prosecution  had  a  case, 
and  he  dismissed  it.  The  case  had  not 
been  dismissed  more  than  ten  minutes 
when  the  engine  was  pulling  the  train 
loaded  with  the  contractor's  goods,  into 
another  state,  thus  ending  the  law  suit 
over  a  piece  of  land  about  a  tenth  of  an 
acre  in  extent. 

Roy   was   returning   to   his   parents' 


ROY'S  ADVENTURES  61 

home  in  the  city,  filled  with  enthusiasm 
and  interest  in  the  mountain  folk.  Two 
years  he  had  spent  in  their  homes,  study- 
ing their  character  as  best  he  could. 
While  working  at  his  daily  task  he  was 
saving  his  small  earnings  to  pay  his  way 
through  college. 


ROY'S  EDUCATION. 

CHAPTER  III. 

His  mind  saturated  with  the  primeval 
forms  of  "mountain  justice"  as  he  had 
seen  it  executed,  and  his  soul  awakened 
by  the  crude  customs  of  mountain  life, 
Roy  went  to  his  old  pastor  in  the  city, 
like  a  man  having  made  a  new  discovery. 

"It  would  take  just  one  churchman  to 
make  a  civilized  community  out  of  that 
region,  sir,"  he  told  the  rector,  "just  one 
churchman  to  preach  and  practice  the 
theory  of  brotherly  love.  These  people 
follow  the  ancient  custom  of  an  eye  for 
an  eye,  as  if  anything  else  would  be  a 
sacrilege.  And,  if  the  church  would  spare 
one  man  from  its  centres,  to  give  his 

52 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  53 

time  to  these  people,  to  make  the  Cum- 
berland region  his  life-work,  he'd  be 
creating  a  new  following  for  God.  Yes, 
sir,  if  they  could  only  know " 

The  old  rector  arose  slowly.  With  a 
grim  smile  overspreading  his  face,  he 
drew  a  packet  of  letters  from  his  desk; 
then  took  down  a  paper  of  names  that 
had  been  pinned  to  the  screen  in  his 
study. 

"You  see  these  letters?  All  these  peo- 
ple have  written  and  in  their  ignorance, 
blamed  the  church  for  conditions  exists 
ing  in  the  mountains.  You  notice  sev- 
eral prominent  people  on  this  list  of 
names.  They  have  likewise  censured 
the  church  for  its  seeming  neglect.  Roy, 
my  boy,  we  have  tried  every  art,  offered 
inducements,  small  ones,  it  is  true,  but 


54  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

still  inducements,  to  persuade  one  of 
these  letter-writers,  or  one  of  the  per- 
sons whose  name  appears  on  this  paper, 
to  undertake  this  as  a  work.  There  are 
two  views  to  be  considered  always;  what 
the  clergy  have  found  expedient,  and 
what  the  laymen  believe  expedient.  And 
then  there  is  the  consideration  of  what 
the  clergy  are  willing  to  do,  and  what 
the  laymen  are  willing  to  do.  They 
recognize  the  need  of  missionaries  in  the 
mountains,  they  reprimand  the  church 
for  its  backwardness  in  not  supplying 
this  need;  but  they  offer  no  assistance, 
either  in  devoting  their  time  and  efforts, 
or  in  a  material  way — we  hope,  before 
long  to  create  an  endowment  sufficiently 
large  to  support  a  parish;  but  the  man 
to  take  charge  of  it — among  all  these," 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  55 

he  held  up  the  letters  again,  "we  have 
not  found  one  whose  idea  of  service  ex- 
tends so  far.  Did  you  speak?" 

Roy  remained  silent. 

"As  you  say,"  the  rector  continued, 
"one  true  churchman  could  bring  mental, 
physical  and  religious  betterment  to  that 
community.  Why  don't  you  go  and  do 
the  work?" 

This  had  not  occurred  to  Roy.  He 
had  not  thought  of  it  in  that  light,  for 
like  a  majority  of  men,  he  only  saw  the 
mote  in  his  brother's  eye.  Then  came 
the  question,  why  should  not  Roy  be  the 
one  to  do  it,  after  all?  But  he  had  prob- 
lems of  his  own.  He  did  not  have  either 
the  education  or  the  opportunity  to  ac- 
quire it.  His  salary  was  not  large,  and 
the  poverty  of  his  early  life  had  not  been 


56  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

overcome.  The  family,  though  perhaps 
better  off,  were  not  able  to  assist  him. 
Neither  were  his  friends.  And  there 
was  no  school  for  him  to  work  his  way 
through.  His  mother  always  had  visions 
of  her  boys  in  college,  and  thought  there 
must  be  something  for  him  to  do  which 
would  help  him  to  take  the  position  in 
the  world  she  had  dreamed  he  would. 
How  she  used  to  puzzle  her  brain,  write 
letters  of  inquiry,  trying  to  find  out  some 
place  he  might  go  and  work  his  way 
through  college.  But  up  to  this  time  no 
place  had  been  found. 

Finally  he  secured  a  position  in  a  store 
and  determined  to  try  to  get  an  educa- 
tion by  some  means,  working  day  and 
night.  This  did  not  give  him  many 
hours  of  study,  but  he  read  all  he  could. 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  57 

His  mother  taught  him  when  the  oppor- 
tunity presented  itself.  The  hours  at  the 
store  being  long,  there  was  little  time  for 
study. 

His  mother  had  been  trained  by  her 
father,  a  wealthy  man,  to  be  a  school 
teacher,  for  her  father  frequently  re- 
marked to  his  children:  "You  may  lose 
your  money,  but  no  one  can  rob  you  of 
your  brains.  You  may  have  to  depend 
some  day  on  your  brains  for  a  living." 
His  advice  and  counsel  proved  prophetic, 
for  that  is  exactly  what  she  had  to  do 
after  the  war  was  over. 

After  working  a  year  and  a  half  in 
the  store,  Roy  was  taken  with  typhoid 
fever.  The  doctors  were  very  uneasy. 
He  fought  hard  to  overcome  the  fever, 
but  it  all  seemed  in  vain.  He  called  in 


58  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

two  other  physicians.  They  gave  up  and 
declared  there  was  no  hope,  but  the  good 
old  faithful  family  doctor  said:  "When 
he  stops  breathing,  I'll  go  home."  The 
mother  as  before,  gentle,  kind  and  un- 
tiring, nursed  him,  and  by  the  help  of 
God  brought  him  through  another  severe 
illness.  It  was  a  miracle.  After  six 
weeks  of  battle,  to  see  him  walking 
around  the  streets — amazed  his  friends 
and  associates.  God  had  spared  his  life 
again  and  it  must  have  been  for  some 
good  purpose. 

The  old  adage  came  to  him  that  where 
there  was  a  will  there  must  be  a  way. 
But  education  still  seemed  impossible. 
His  mother  was  the  only  one  who  had 
faith.  The  rest  of  the  family  said  there 
was  no  use.  But  encouraged  by  a  godly 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  B9 

mother,  who  ever  prayed  for  her  boys 
and  believed  in  them,  he  was  inspired  to 
go  on.  Leaving  the  city  to  recuperate, 
he  found  another  position  which  was 
more  remunerative  than  anything  he 
had  had  before.  The  outdoor  life  hast- 
ened his  recovery,  and  after  completing 
the  work  he  had  undertaken,  he  had 
money  laid  aside  to  send  himself  to 
school.  A  happy  morning  it  was  when 
his  little  trunk  was  packed  and  he  went 
off  to  college.  Four  years  he  spent  in 
college,  and  how  he  got  through  he  can 
scarcely  tell.  It  was  hard  work  to  make 
ends  meet;  wearing  old  clothes,  eating 
scant  rations — but  this  was  necessary  if 
he  expected  to  get  an  education.  And 
after  all,  his  life  in  college,  though 
cramped,  was  most  delightful.  None  of 


60  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

the  other  students  had  money,  which  was 
fortunate.  They  had  to  economize  just 
as  he  did,  and  most  of  them  worked  at 
their  books  very  hard,  for  they  were 
backward,  not  having  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  attend  a  preparatory  school. 
Thus  the  time  passed  rapidly  enough. 

Ah!  those  college  days!  The  ups  and 
downs  of  a  student's  life  grow  more  in- 
teresting as  one  gets  older.  Imagine  a 
small  village,  surrounded  by  magnificent 
mountain  peaks  inspiring  men  to  a 
higher  and  broader  vision  of  life. 

It  was  a  beautiful  Fall  day,  the  foliage 
just  beginning  to  turn,  warning  the 
world  of  approaching  Winter,  when  he 
registered  for  the  first  time  in  the  col- 
lege which  was  to  be  his  Alma  Mater. 
He  felt  the  Freshman's  thrill  of  timidity 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  61 

and  self-distrust.  As  he  watched  the 
proud  and  knowing  walk  of  a  Sopho- 
more, he  wondered  how  he  would  ever 
get  over  his  fearful  sense  of  distance 
between  himself  and  that  perambulating 
Sophomore  swinging  a  cane.  Much  had 
been  told  him  about  college  life  by 
"Marse"  William,  his  father;  about 
its  attractions  on  the  one  hand,  and  its 
discipline  on  the  other. 

When  Roy  entered  college,  he  had  been 
out  of  school  for  some  years  in  the  world 
of  hard  knocks.  While  the  discipline  had 
been  severe,  he  had  not  lost  any  of  his 
mischievous  boyhood.  In  fact,  the  mis- 
chief-side of  his  youth  only  awaited  an 
opportunity.  The  opportunity  came,  for 
the  college  village  had  a  most  interesting 
character  in  blue  coat  and  brass  buttons, 


C2  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

who  stood  on  the  corner  with  an  impos- 
ing air,  as  though  he  were  commanding 
the  Fifth  avenue  squad.  It  was  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Sophomores  to  divide  Fresh- 
men into  groups,  locate  them  variously 
in  the  village,  cause  one  of  the  groups 
thus  located  to  attract  the  "Chiefs"  at- 
tention, decoy  him  off  with  outlandish 
cries,  while  the  other  groups  painted  the 
town  red,  removed  the  gates,  and  did 
their  mischief  undisturbed. 

This,  of  course,  aroused  the  ire  of  the 
faculty,  who  were  all  determined  to 
stamp  out  the  rowdyism,  and  preserve 
order  in  the  dignified  institution  of 
learning.  The  president  of  the  college 
ordered  an  immediate  and  thorough  in- 
vestigation of  every  student's  room.  The 
student,  however,  was  prepared  for  the 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  63 

investigation.  Traps  were  laid  for  visit- 
ing professors.  Water  was  plentiful, 
ropes  easily  accessible,  and  many  a  poor 
wise  man  had  to  change  his  clothing,  or 
be  stitched  up  by  the  surgeon  after  a  trip 
over  the  ropes  stretched  across  their 
paths.  However,  the  investigation  was 
made,  notwithstanding,  and  every  stu- 
dent was  found  bending  over  Cicero,  or 
Sophocles,  Horace  or  Homer,  when  the 
ancient  professors  made  their  rounds, 
armed  with  executive  authority. 

The  Freshman  class  was  ending  its 
year.  Roy  in  the  meantime  had  de- 
veloped into  a  first-class  college  athlete. 
Already  he  was  becoming  a  hero  on  the 
gridiron  and  diamond.  The  long  runs, 
quick  openings,  ferocious  tackles,  flying 
wedges,  in  all  of  which  he  figured,  be- 


64  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

came  the  absorbing  talk  of  the  com- 
mons, as  well  as  the  long,  over-the-fence 
hits,  followed  up  by  brilliant  dashing 
around  the  bases,  and  some  superb  field- 
ing that  never  failed  to  bring  the  bleach- 
ers down.  But  he  excelled  not  in  ath- 
letics alone.  After  much  halting,  he  be- 
came a  debater  in  one  of  the  literary  so- 
cieties, finally  winning  the  Debaters 
Medal  before  an  admiring  and  repre- 
sentative audience  on  Commencement 
Day.  Questions  like:  "Which  is  more  at- 
tractive, the  brunette  or  the  blonde?"  or 
"Resolved,  that  the  present  system  of 
college  government  is  a  nuisance,  and 
should  be  abated  or  abolished,"  were  de- 
bated to  the  best  of  Roy's  ability,  and 
he  was  usually  declared  a  winner  by 
critical  judges,  who  never  failed  to  show 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  C5 

off  their  own  astuteness  by  bringing  out 
the  weak  and  strong  points  of  the  sev- 
eral debaters  in  frightfully  long-winded 
critiques  from  the  handful  of  notes. 

Commencement  over,  Roy  boarded  a 
train  to  grapple  once  more  with  the 
harder  problems  of  his  struggling  life. 

Earning  sufficient  money  during  vaca- 
tion, he  returned  to  college,  mounting 
the  second  rung  of  the  ladder  of  his  col- 
lege course  as  a  Sophomore.  It  was  now 
Roy's  turn  to  lord  it  over  a  bunch  of 
Freshmen.  Corraling  the  fresh  incom- 
ing class,  Roy  set  each  one  his  task  to  do. 
The  paint  of  the  year  before  had  been 
burnt  off  by  a  hot  Summer.  The  gates 
and  fences  had  been  repaired,  but  that 
meant  out  of  repair  as  far  as  the  Sopho- 
mores were  concerned.  The  "Chief"  had 


W  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

nothing  to  do  but  keep  his  brass  buttons 
polished  and  his  blue  suit  blue  through 
the  weary  vacation. 

The  boys  were  drilled  and  plans  per- 
fected to  correct  conditions  that  had 
been  allowed  to  stagnate.  It  was  not 
long  before  Roy  had  his  machinery  of 
mischief  well  oiled  and  ready  for  opera- 
tion. The  honorable  Mayor  of  the  town, 
quite  willing  to  assist  the  college  au- 
thorities to  subdue  the  students,  had 
doubled  his  police  force  by  giving  the 
"Chief"  a  highly  accomplished  assistant. 
This  made  Roy's  task  doubly  hard,  but 
he  doubled  his  wits,  placing  herds  of 
Freshmen  at  either  end  of  the  town, 
which  consisted  of  one  long  boulevard. 
The  two  blue-coats  were  thus  decoyed 
from  the  real  field  of  boyish  action.  The 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  61 

town  next  morning  being  thoroughly 
painted  by  the  artists,  the  gates  and 
fences  being  properly  arranged,  the  stu- 
dents were  ready  for  class  work.  The 
locks  of  the  class  rooms  could  not  be 
used,  for  the  students  had  become  ex- 
pert locksmiths  over  night. 

The  wise  white-haired,  sedate  and  un- 
suspecting professors  of  the  liberal  arts, 
had  toiled  in  vain  to  gain  admittance 
into  their  own  class  rooms,  but  there  was 
one  professor,  the  idol  of  the  student 
body,  whose  room  was  untouched.  He 
sat  upon  his  professorial  throne  and 
gazed  wistfully  upon  the  empty  seats  be- 
fore him.  The  janitor  thought  he  had 
rung  the  bell,  and  upon  being  questioned 
declared  "I  rang  it  at  the  usual  hour." 
Trying  it  again  and  finding  no  sound  re- 


«8  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

spending  to  his  labor  or  the  sweat  of  his 
brow,  he  climbed  into  the  belfry.  No 
wonder  there  was  no  response — the  clap- 
per had  mysteriously  disappeared!  The 
sages  were  summoned  in  a  faculty  meet- 
ing, which  lasted  into  the  early  hours  of 
the  morning.  At  chapel,  following  the 
meeting,  some  wholesome  advice  pealed 
from  the  pulpit,  and  the  day's  work  be- 
gan. 

The  regular  routine  of  college  life  re- 
stored, the  year  went  by  with  Roy  barely 
passing  his  Sophomore  "exams."  An- 
other Summer  flew  by,  and  now  for  the 
Junior  Class,  the  real  critical  year  of 
college  life.  The  frivolities  of  the  Sopho- 
more must  be  abandoned  in  some  meas- 
ure. The  seriousness  of  the  Seniors  just 
above  him  was  almost  oppressive  to  Roy. 


ROY'S  EDUCATION 


He  must  now  solemnly  think  of  his  life 
vocation.  The  Dean  constantly  reminded 
the  student  body  of  life's  various  call- 
ings, and  the  necessity  of  making  a 
definite  choice  of  one  of  them.  But  Roy 
proved  restive  under  solemnity.  One 
beautiful  cold  moonlight  night,  with  his 
tried  friend  and  classmate,  he  strolled 
out  on  the  hill  side,  sat  down  under  a 
tall  locust,  and  began  to  discuss  how 
serious  life  must  be.  While  thus  in  con- 
versation, they  began  with  a  small  stick 
to  dig  a  hole  in  the  ground.  Becoming 
more  interested  in  what  they  were  doing 
than  in  what  they  were  talking  about, 
Roy's  companion  remarked,  "If  I  had  a 
pick  and  a  shovel,  I  would  dig  a  hole 
down  here  sure  enough."  Roy  imme- 
diately slipped  off  to  a  nearby  house,  get- 


70  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

ting  the  pick  and  shovel,  and  returned. 
The  two  toiled  away  for  hours,  digging 
the  hole,  apparently  without  any  pur- 
pose. Getting  tired  of  their  labor,  they 
returned  the  pick  and  shovel,  and  the 
owner  being  asleep,  doubtless  dreamed 
of  their  gratitude.  Finally,  going  back 
to  their  rooms,  they  were  soon  absorbed 
in  Christian  Evidences,  Political  Econ- 
omy and  kindred  studies.  Arising  the 
next  morning  they  were  surprised  to 
find  the  town  startled  at  this  mysterious 
hole.  A  guard  had  been  put  on  watch. 
The  Associated  Press  got  busy  and  sent 
the  news  throughout  the  land  that  a 
mysterious  hole  had  been  discovered, 
evidently  designed  to  recover  hidden 
treasures  or  hide  a  scandal.  While  the 
town  was  agog  over  the  matter,  Roy  and 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  71 

his  companion  hugely  enjoyed  the  joke 
they  had  unwittingly  perpetrated  on  the 
public,  ever  ready  for  a  scandal.  The 
secret  was  never  divulged.  No  doubt 
there  are  many  traditions  gathered 
around  that  hole  in  the  ground,  inno- 
cently dug  twenty  years  ago  by  two  seri- 
ous-minded Juniors. 

Junior  examinations  over,  another 
Commencement  passed  into  college  his- 
tory. Roy  took  up  the  toil  of  earning 
more  means  to  complete  his  senior  year 
in  college.  This  having  been  accom- 
plished, the  serious-minded  Senior  re- 
turned to  his  class  for  the  final  lap.  He 
must  now  determine  his  life  calling.  Law 
was  presented  with  all  its  emoluments. 
Politics  was  put  before  him  with  its 
allurement  of  power.  Medicine  was  sug- 


73  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

gested  as  a  way  to  combine  the  necessi- 
ties of  a  livelihood  with  opportunities  of 
philanthropy.  The  ministry  was  the  last 
presented  and  with  the  least  emphasis. 
The  idea  being  constantly  conveyed  that 
the  South  needed  material  rejuvenation 
in  order  to  make  way  for  the  more  cul- 
tured callings.  Roy  could  not  throw  off 
the  lingering  memories  of  his  mother's 
oft  expressed  wish  that  her  son  might 
become  a  clergyman.  Again  there  was 
the  appeal  of  his  old  rector  haunting  him, 
"Why  don't  you  do  it?"  when  Roy  had 
abused  the  church  and  the  state,  in  fact 
everything  but  himself,  for  the  crying 
neglect  of  the  mountaineer.  Besides  all 
this,  there  were  many  providential  cir- 
cumstances, the  logic  of  which  Roy  could 
not  in  his  own  mind  evade — such  as  f re- 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  73 

quent  proximity  to  death  in  the  sick 
room  and  marvelous  recoveries  despite 
exposures.  Here  was  the  "still  small 
voice,"  he  always  heard  even  in  the 
clanging  of  friendly  counsel  on  every 
side  in  those  college  days  of  yore.  Slowly, 
deliberately  and  irrevocably,  he  decided 
to  become  an  ordained  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  perhaps  a  missionary  to  the 
mountaineer. 

The  decision  made,  he  reported  to  the 
Dean,  who  with  enthusiasm  planned  out 
his  senior  work  with  a  theological  course 
in  view.  The  work  was  most  delightful, 
and  the  year  passed  before  Roy  realized 
it.  Examinations  easy,  the  class  day  is  a 
joy  to  the  men  who  soon  will  hear  the 
familiar  words:  "Auctoritate  mihi  com- 
missa,  admitto  te  ad  Gradum,"  etc.,  and 


74  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

ending  "In  Nomine  Patris  et  filii  et 
Spiritus  Sancti,  Amen,"  while  Academic 
hoods  were  being  suspended  down  their 
backs. 

Then  came  the  sad  farewells.  Four 
happy  years  were  ended.  With  a  heavy 
heart  Roy  boarded  the  train  for  home. 
There  a  joyous  meeting  took  place  be- 
tween son  and  proud  parents.  But  time 
was  precious,  and  remunerative  work 
must  be  had.  He  must  be  provided  with 
more  means  to  pursue  the  theological 
work  of  three  more  long  years  that  now 
faced  him.  While  working  during  the 
Summer,  and  after  taking  counsel  with 
a  friend,  he  decided  what  Seminary  he 
would  attend.  At  last  the  time  came, 
and  Roy  started  for  the  Divinity  School. 

On  a  hot  dusty  July  day  he  arrived, 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  75 

having  had  a  long  tiresome  trip.  Reach- 
ing the  Dean's  office,  where  he  was  as- 
signed a  room  after  registering,  he 
made  straight  for  his  room  and  arrang- 
ed his  baggage,  and  made  his  first  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Seminary  class- 
room. He  realized  that  new  conditions 
in  a  new  environment  surrounded  him. 
He  must  adjust  himself  to  conditions. 
The  serious-minded  "theolog"  roaming 
through  the  woods,  attracted  his  atten- 
tion. Some  of  them  roamed  with  an 
evident  air  of  doubt  and  skepticism; 
others  cock-sure  they  were  right,  and 
knew  it  all.  The  incoming  class  watched 
with  awe  and  amazement.  Roy  soon 
realized  that  immature  minds  have  to 
go  through  critical  periods,  causing 
much  anxiety  and  questioning  among 


78  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

those  of  the  weaker  type,  while  among 
those  of  the  stronger  type  there  is  sus- 
pension of  judgment,  awaiting  develop- 
ments in  and  out  of  the  class-room. 

Only  a  few  days  passed  until  he  buck- 
led down  to  Westcott  and  Hort's  New 
Testament  in  Greek,  Pearson  on  the 
Creed,  Browne  on  the  Thirty-nine  Arti- 
cles, and  Robertson's  History  of  the 
Christian  Church;  also  fell  to  digging 
Hebrew  and  Greek  roots.  The  Profes- 
sor of  the  English  Old  Testament  acted 
as  a  Moses,  leading  his  class  through 
the  Arabian  Wilderness  across  the  Red 
Sea,  into  the  Promised  Land,  after  he 
had  committed  to  memory  the  Judges, 
Kings  and  Prophets  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Israel,  united  and  divided.  The  Profes- 
sor of  the  New  Testament  exegeted  the 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  77 

Synoptists,  the  Fourth  Gospel,  the  Pro- 
legomena, the  Pauline  Epistles,  the 
Petrine,  the  Johannine  writings,  until  the 
class  was  led  to  gaze  upon  the  mystic  ar- 
chitecture of  the  Apocalypse.  The  Pro- 
fessor would  exclaim:  "Gentlemen,  I  have 
two  Bibles:  the  great  Bible  and  the 
Aristotle."  Roy's  professor  of  Church 
History  was  a  man  of  dates  and  erudite 
detail,  and  Roy  was  not  surprised  when 
the  Professor  solemnly  turned  upon  him 
and  asked:  "Sir,  what  was  the  color  of 
St.  Augustine's  eyes"?  Roy  was  rather 
shocked  one  day  when  one  of  his  class 
mates  called  out:  "Say  ain't  you  going 
to  Dog"?  "What's  that,"  Roy  stupidly 
asked.  "Why  Dogmatic  Theology,  you 
chump." 
The  Professor  in  the  Dogmatic  School 


78  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

informed  his  class  that  it  was  the  busi- 
ness of  his  chair  to  crystallize  thought, 
to  have  all  the  shocks,  all  the  doubts  and 
the  questionings  out  at  once,  for  there 
was  but  little  time  to  lose  if  the  ground 
was  to  be  covered  before  the  end  of  the 
semester.  Hall's  "Kenotic  Theory,"  Lid- 
dont  Bampton  Lectures  on  "The  Divin- 
ity of  our  Lord"  were  his  stand-bys. 
The  professor  of  Homiletics  made  the 
students  preach  to  an  imaginary  congre- 
gation, thus  preparing  them  for  empty 
churches. 

While  all  this  was  necessary,  Roy  was 
impatient  to  put  into  daily  practice  the 
things  he  had  learned  and  was  learning. 
Feeling  he  could  better  understand  the 
intellectual  by  mixing  in  the  practical, 
he  found  a  mission  post  as  if  by  Provi- 


-  I 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  79 

dence,  actually  in  an  outlying  mountain 
district.    Finding  the  conditions  alarm- 
ing, from  educational  and  moral  stand- 
\ 

points,  again  came  the  voice  of  the  rec- 
tor back  home:  "Why  don't  you  do  it?" 
Roy  made  up  his  mind  that  it  was  his 
business,  and  he  proceeded  to  "do  it." 
There  was  no  church  or  school  in  that 
mountainous  district,  people  gathered 
about  him  under  a  spreading  oak,  and 
soon  his  work  began  in  dead  earnest.  The 
tree  was  sufficient  for  the  Summer,  but 
what  was  to  be  done  when  the  cold 
weather  came?  Religion  should  not 
take  a  vacation  because  it  is  hot  or  cold. 
When  a  man  or  woman  allows  the  tem- 
perature to  affect  church  attendance, 
a  perilous  condition  is  faced.  Roy  made 
up  his  mind  to  provide  against  the  day 
of  cold  weather. 


80  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

With  two  carpenters  the  church  was 
built  after  the  lumber  was  secured. 
Later  on  with  the  same  crew,  he  built 
a  school.  Thus  he  spent  three  years 
studying  and  listening  to  learned  lec- 
tures and  more  learned  discussions  in 
the  class  room,  but  on  Saturday  and  Sun- 
day he  would  attempt  to  put  into  prac- 
tice the  simple  faith  he  had  learned  at 
his  mother's  knee  on  the  old  Virginia 
plantation. 

He  did  not,  however,  spend  quite  all 
his  time  in  the  classroom  and  mountain 
missions,  he  had  not  yet  forgotten  the 
art  of  foot  ball.  His  college  reputation 
had  preceded  him.  He  was  pressed  into 
the  team,  and  toured  the  country  with 
the  University  squad. 

Eleven  men  composed  the  team,  six 


ROY'S  EDUCATION  81 

of  whom  were  "theologs."  That  team 
was  destined  to  become  the  champion  of 
the  South  with  Roy  as  an  All-Southern 
star.  Three  other  "Theologs"  took 
places  in  the  All-Southern  line-up. 

Having  won  a  "rep"  (a  college  slang 
for  reputation)  for  himself,  he  found 
himself  "rushed"  for  a  Greek-letter 
"frat"  or  fraternity.  Having  already 
travelled  over  the  rough  and  rugged  road 
of  a  Greek  alphabet  in  the  college  from 
which  he  came,  he  was  not  eligible.  But 
looking  about  he  found  good  material 
that  had  been  neglected,  and  he  proceed- 
ed to  install  his  own  chapter  with  his 
characteristic  vigor.  This  chapter  after- 
wards won  the  reputation  of  a  frater- 
nity of  scholars,  upon  which  reputation 
there  has  never  been  a  blot. 


ROY'S  ROMANCE. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

All  through  Roy's  career  he  had  been 
deprived  of  social  life.  For  one  thing, 
his  work  was  largely  with  railroads  and 
engineering  camps  in  the  mountains. 
He  had  watched  with  interest  a  few  of 
the  mountain  folk,  as  the  mountaineer 
terms  it  "sitting  up"  with  them.  The 
highlander's  courting  is  thoroughly  uni- 
que. Four  or  five  young  men  will  call 
on  a  young  lady.  They  sit  around  the 
fireside.  Suddenly  she  is  asked  to  make 
her  choice.  With  becoming  blushes  she 
makes  it.  The  unfortunate  ones  retire. 
A  month  or  so  later  there  is  a  wedding. 
All  of  this,  of  course,  was  picturesque  to 

89 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  88 

Roy  who  viewed  it  from  a  distance,  for 
he  was  not  in  any  position  financially  or 
otherwise  to  become  a  hero  in  a  moun- 
tain romance.  It  was  all  he  could  do  to 
make  a  living  for  himself,  and  it  was  his 
constant  hope  that  he  might  become  edu- 
cated and  take  his  place  in  the  world  as 
his  mother  had  long  wished. 

Things  had  now  changed  for  Roy.  His 
education  completed,  so  far  as  colleges 
and  seminaries  were  concerned,  he  was 
now  soon  to  take  his  place  in  the  world 
and  become  a  man  of  affairs.  Should  he 
take  that  place  alone?  Did  Adam  take 
his  place  in  Eden  alone?  Or  did  St. 
Peter  journey  through  life  alone?  The 
same  question  that  puzzled  Adam  or  St. 
Peter,  was  now  before  Roy,  but  Roy  was 


84  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

not  given  to  long  puzzling — besides  the 
fairies  were  kind  to  him. 

As  has  already  been  said,  Roy  went 
every  week-end  to  his  mission  to  the 
mountaineers.  One  Saturday  Roy,  as 
usual  rode  his  bay  horse,  "Marse"  Robert, 
which  had  been  shipped  to  him  from  the 
East  by  a  friend  of  the  mission,  to  meet 
his  appointment  at  the  little  gray  church 
in  the  cove,  which  he  had  built  himself — 
with  the  aid  of  two  carpenters.  It  was 
Easter.  The  Easter  flower  of  the  moun- 
tains is  the  trailing  arbutus.  It  per- 
fumes the  air  of  the  hills  perfectly.  Roy 
took  sniff  after  sniff  with  "Marse" 
Robert.  Overhead,  the  Red  Bird,  the 
Robin  and  the  Thrush  were  mingling 
their  golden  voices  in  Easter  Carols.  On 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  85 

every  side  were  evidences  of  Nature's 
resurrection,  fitting  in  with  the  happiest 
festival  of  the  year. 

Amid  such  scenes  of  natural  beauty, 
inspired  by  evidences  of  life  from  Win- 
ter's death,  Roy  was  meditating  over  his 
Easter  sermon.  How  must  he  tell  the 
Easter  story  understandingly  to  his  sim- 
ple mountain  congregation?  Deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  sermon  Roy's  mind 
plunged.  But  what's  that?  He  imag- 
ined he  heard  a  plaintive  human  cry, 
but  resumed  his  meditation  while 
"Marse"  Robert  still  acted  queerly  with 
his  ears  pricked  up.  Roy  had  dismiss- 
ed the  thought  that  the  cry  might  be 
a  human  voice.  He  was  now  about 
ten  miles  from  the  University  village. 
He  had  four  miles  to  go.  But  there 


66  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

it  is  again!  This  time  Roy  stopped 
"Marse"  Robert  dead  in  his  tracks. 
"Hel-1-l-p.  Hel-1-l-p"  came  through  the 
air  tremblingly  .  It  was  a  human  voice, 
a  woman's  voice.  It  reached  Roy.  Some 
one  is  in  distress.  Some  one  perhaps  has 
lost  her  way  through  these  wild  moun- 
tain forests.  Perhaps,  it  is  a  woman  off 
the  road  trying  to  get  back  to  the  beaten 
path  of  travel.  Thus  Roy  thought  in 
flashes,  as  he  tried  to  locate  the  cry. 
"Hel-1-l-p!"  This  time  the  cry  was 
louder.  It  was  almost  a  shriek.  Roy's 
heart  fairly  jumped.  Straightway  he 
wheeled  "Marse"  Robert  around  and 
dashed  through  the  timber  to  where  he 
thought  the  cry  came  from.  "Marse" 
Robert's  hoofs  patted  the  ground 
rhythmically.  The  animal  seemed  to 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  87 

sense  danger  somewhere.  Strange,  how 
in  a  crisis  a  horse  seems  to  have  intelli- 
gence bordering  on  the  human.  Roy's 
task  was  made  easy  by  "Marse"  Robert, 
to  say  the  least. 

All  the  time  Roy  was  making  for  the 
sound  of  the  cry,  there  was  something 
in  the  voice  that  struck  the  young  mis- 
sionary, though  it  was  unconscious  at 
the  time.  The  cries  kept  up.  Evident-y 
the  unknown  was  doing  all  she  could  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  rider,  whose 
horse  she  probably  heard  drumming  the 
ground  as  he  flew  through  the  timber. 

At  last  Roy  came  to  a  stop.  It  was  at 
the  edge  of  a  spur.  He  looked  around, 
but  could  see  nothing.  Again  came  the 
cry  "Help!  0  My  God,  Help."  The  cry 
was  weakening  but  Roy  heard  it,  and 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


looking  down  the  side  of  the  mou retain 
spur,  through  tangle-wood  fifty  feet 
down,  he  saw  something  white.  He  leap- 
ed from  "Marse"  Robert,  who  at  once 
proceeded  to  graze.  Peering  through  the 
under-growth  and  trees  on  the  mountain 
side,  with  his  eye  ever  upon  the  white 
object.  Roy  made  to  the  spot.  The 
white  proved  to  be  the  white  of  a  girl's 
waist.  Evidently  she  had  fallen.  She 
might  have  rolled  six  or  eight  hundred 
feet  down  the  mountain  side  but  some- 
how her  fall  was  arrested. 

Roy  looked  at  the  girl  and  the  girl 
looked  at  Roy.  Blood  was  streaming 
down  her  face  from  an  ugly  gash  on  the 
side  of  her  head.  Her  clothes  were  torn. 
Her  hair  dishevelled.  She  was  moaning 
as  if  stunned,  and  yet  not  altogether  un- 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  89 

conscious.  Under  Roy's  look  she  shrank. 
There  was  not  much  time  to  waste.  Here 
was  Roy  ten  miles  from  the  University, 
where  there  was  a  hospital.  There  was 
the  girl  in  dire  distress,  really  in  need 
of  prompt  surgical  attention.  Roy  ap- 
proached the  girl.  Happening  to  glance 
down  to  the  foot  of  the  spur,  beyond  the 
form  of  the  prostrate  girl,  Roy  was 
struck  for  the  moment  with  horror. 
There  lay  a  dead  horse,  all  cut  to  pieces. 
Like  a  flash  Roy  understood  what  had 
happened.  The  girl  was  a  stranger  in 
that  part  of  the  world.  Indeed,  as  it 
later  proved,  she  was  a  visitor  on  the 
mountain,  having  come  up  to  be  a  belle 
of  the  annual  Easter  dance.  She  was 
taking  a  ride  through  the  woods.  The 
woods,  its  sights  and  smells  fascinated 


90  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

her.  She  was  going  too  far,  and  did  not 
know  it.  In  fact,  she  had  lost  the  road. 
In  her  fright  she  had  wheeled  the  horse 
around.  As  she  turned  the  animal  lost 
its  footing,  and  both  horse  and  rider 
plunged  down  the  side  of  the  mountain. 
In  the  path  of  the  plunge  was  a  huge 
rock,  lying  as  if  some  earthquake  had 
bowled  it  there.  This  rock  proved  the 
girl's  salvation,  for  here  she  fell  off  and 
was  caught  and  held  fast  by  her  skirt. 
But  it  did  not  hold  the  frightened  animal 
which  failed  to  recover  its  footing  on 
the  steep  descent,  rolled  over  and  over, 
broke  its  neck  and  finally  stopped  with 
a  crashing  thud  in  the  valley  below. 

All  this  passed  through  Roy's  mind  as 
he  saw  the  girl  at  the  rock  and  the  dead 
horse  below  in  the  valley.  But  how  did 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  tl 

Roy  know  she  was  a  visitor?  The  girl's 
dress  told  the  story.  She  wore  a  tailor- 
made  skirt,  and  anyone  familiar  with 
the  maintain  knows  that  there  are  no 
tailor-made  skirts  among  the  moun- 
taineers, whose  poverty  naturally  would 
forbid  such  a  luxury.  But  Roy  was  not 
consciously  putting  these  things  together 
in  his  mind  in  any  logical  order.  They 
came  to  him  rather  as  intuitions  and 
instincts.  Besides  the  face  of  the  girl 
was  sufficient.  It  was  a  soft  oval  face, 
showing  that  her  life  was  not  the  hard 
life  of  the  mountaineer.  It  was  a  sweet 
face,  full  of  color.  Perhaps  the  color 
might  have  found  its  way  there  when 
Roy  looked  at  her.  Perhaps  it  was  the 
color  of  innate  modesty,  but  he  did  not 
notice  it  at  the  time. 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


For  mice  in  his  life,  Roy's  athletic 
training  was  necessary  to  save  a  human 
soul.  Without  a  word,  he  picked  her  up 
in  his  strong  arms.  By  hard  work  and 
almost  superhuman  strength  he  strug- 
gled to  the  top  of  the  mountain.  Placing 
her  on  "Marse"  Robert,  who  was  still 
grazing,  they  sped  away  at  the  topmost 
speed.  It  was  nothing  for  Roy  to  find 
the  road,  for  he  knew  every  inch  of  the 
ground,  every  rock  and  stump,  almost 
every  tree.  He  had  traveled  these  parts 
by  day,  and  often  at  night  for  nearly 
three  years.  Roy  found  the  road,  and 
placing  his  heels  in  the  flanks  of  "Marse" 
Robert  and  giving  the  animal  rein,  he 
dashed  for  the  life  of  the  girl  whom  he 
held  securely  on  the  saddle  before  him. 
Over  the  mountain  road  they  flew,  stop- 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  93 

ping  for  nothing.  It  was  a  matter  of 
life  and  death.  The  congregation  must 
wait.  Within  an  hour,  Roy  had  her 
safely  landed  in  the  hospital  with  physi- 
cians and  nurses  by  her  side.  After 
making  all  arrangements,  securing 
another  horse,  Roy  proceeded  to  his  mis- 
sion, fourteen  miles  away,  rather  than 
disappoint  the  congregation  on  Easter, 
the  day  of  all  days  in  the  year. 

As  he  started  out  on  his  journey,  Roy 
tried  in  vain  to  recall  his  Easter  sermon, 
which  he  had  planned  before  he  heard 
the  girl's  cry.  But  for  the  life  of  him  he 
could  not  remember  even  the  text  he  had 
decided  upon.  His  mind  wandered  along 
the  road  to  the  scene  of  the  accident, 
often  thinking  aloud  to  himself,  "Is  she 
dangerously  hurt?  Who  is  she?"  But, 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


as  he  approached  the  mission,  a  text 
came  to  him :  "If  ye  be  risen  with  Christ, 
seek  those  things  which  are  above,"  for 
what  the  Easter  story  after  all,  but  the 
Son  of  God  giving  His  life  for  the  world. 
He  arrived,  finding  the  church  packed 
with  a  patient  people  waiting  for  their 
pastor's  Easter  message.  He  began  his 
service  without  delay.  There  was  one 
special  prayer  he  could  not  help  adding 
to  the  service  that  day,  and  that  was  the 
Prayer  for  the  Sick,  which  at  once  ex- 
cited the  curiosity  of  the  congregation, 
not  that  they  had  never  heard  the  prayer 
before,  but  no  one  in  their  community 
was  sick.  It  was  a  glorious  service,  and 
Roy  preached  as  he  never  preached  be- 
fore. While  he  preached,  visions  of  the 
girl  in  the  hospital  would  come  to  his 


ROY'S  ROMANCE 


mind.  The  sermon  over,  the  congrega- 
tion dismissed,  his  parishioners  were  ex- 
cited to  know  for  whom  the  prayer  for 
the  sick  had  been  offered.  On  hearing 
the  story  they  forgave  him  for  being 
iate.  They  saw  something  unaccount- 
able in  his  eyes,  for  talk  and  act  as  he 
would,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  keep 
his  mind  from  the  hospital  and  the  girl 
he  had  saved.  Roy  had  to  excuse  him- 
self from  a  dinner  party  with  one  of  his 
mountain  friends.  He  must  return  at 
once  to  see  further  about  the  young  lady 
he  had  so  Providentially  rescued. 
Mounting  his  horse  he  started  back. 
Should  he  go  straight  to  the  hospital  or 
to  his  rooms?  The  horse  kept  pace  more 
with  his  thoughts  than  with  his  com- 
mands. In  fact  he  was  lost  to  the  world. 


96  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

He  certainly  was  lost  in  thought.  He 
was  not  thinking  of  the  horse,  nor  was 
the  horse  thinking  of  him.  "Shall  I  go 
to  her?"  Why  I  don't  know  even  her 
name.  Why  not?  I  believe  I  will.  Get 
up  Bob." 

At  the  word  of  command,  the  animal 
started  in  a  rack.  Faster  and  faster 
horse  and  rider  annihilated  the  distance 
between  them  and  the  girl  in  the  hospi- 
tal At  last  they  arrived.  Into  the  hos- 
pital he  rushed  only  to  find  that  with  the 
exception  of  the  gash  on  the  side  of  her 
head  and  some  minor  cuts,  the  young 
lady  was  uninjured  and  was  up  and 
about,  telling  others  of  her  adventure. 
In  the  midst  of  her  story,  Roy  appeared 
rather  awkwardly  with  hat  in  hand. 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  »7 

"There's  my  rescuer,"  she  exclaimed, 
much  to  his  discomfort.  Roy  blushed. 

"You  see  I  am  alright  now.  How  good 
of  you  to  hurry  back  from  your  work. 
To  think  what  might  have  happened  had 
you  not  passed  by  and  heard  my  cry  for 
help.  Oh!  I  was  frightened.  How  could 
I  know  but  that  some  wild  cat  might 
spring  on  me.  I  am  certainly  thankful 
to  you,  far  more  than  words  can  tell. 
Oh!  it  was  so  sweet  of  you,"  she  chat- 
tered on. 

He  could  not  speak.  Naturally  back- 
ward and  awkward,  he  was  facing  for 
the  first  time  in  his  life  something  he 
could  neither  explain  nor  understand. 
However,  he  returned  to  his  rooms  with 
the  name  Medora,  ringing  in  his  ears. 
What  a  name!  He  had  scarcely  entered 

7 


98  #07  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

his  room,  before  he  was  thinking  aloud: 
"I've  heard  that  name.  Where  did  I 
hear  it  before?  Ah!  I  wonder  if  she 
can  be  the  same  Medora  who  has.  been 
the  belle  of  the  mountain  so  long.  It 
must  be  the  same  Medora.  My!  she's 
a  beauty.  Just  the  kind  to  make  one's 
heart  jump"  With  that  he  had  a 
peculiar  feeling  in  his  own  heart.  His 
mind  went  back  to  the  log  cabin  he  had 
seen  in  the  mountains,  when  a  civil 
engineer.  The  more  he  thought  about 
the  scene  of  the  cabin,  the  harder  it  was 
to  get  rid  of  the  name,  Medora. 

"Bosh!  What  is  all  this  foolishness.  I 
must  go  to  work,"  he  finally  said  with  a 
sudden  feeling  of  disgust  for  himself, 
While  he  was  trying  to  find  some  dinner, 
all  the  members  of  the  Theological  De- 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  99 

partment  came  down,  led  by  the  Profes- 
sors to  find  out  the  details  of  the  won- 
derful story  that  had  gone  abroad  in 
the  land.  Roy  learned  that  the  story 
had  been  going  the  rounds,  gathering  in 
size  like  a  snowball,  before  he  had  even 
reached  his  mission  station.  A  hasty 
and  cold  dinner,  sandwiched  in  with 
questions,  "Where  did  it  happen?" 
"How  did  you  possibly  get  her  up  that 
steep  place?"  "Is  she  all  right?"  "How 
long  will  she  live,  do  you  think?"— was 
Roy's  portion,  much  to  his  discomfort. 

"Do  you  think  she  will  live?"  "He 
heard  at  chapel  today  that  she  was  dy- 
ing," one  "Theolog"  persisted. 

"Ah!  that's  just  like  a  little  gossip- 
ing town.  Why  the  lady  is  all  right. 
She  will  be  ready  for  the  German  Wed- 


100  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

nesday,"  said  Roy,  as  he  tackled  a  cold 
and  tough  chicken  that  probably  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower.  Finishing  his 
dinner  and  the  gossip,  he  strolled  out 
into  the  woods  with  a  friend,  whom  he 
told  about  the  occasion,  and  the  beautiful 
brown-eyed  girl  he  had  rescued  from  the 
mountain  side.  It  seemed  to  Roy  he 
could  talk  about  nothing  else  and  really 
he  could  not  His  friend  encouraged 
him  and  Roy  went  on  chatting  away  the 
entire  afternoon,  describing  vividly  her 
beauty  and  heroism. 

Sure  enough,  when  the  Senior  German 
came  off  the  next  Wednesday  night 
Medora  was  there  as  Roy  had  proph- 
esied. So  was  Roy.  He  couldn't  take 
his  eyes  off  of  her.  There  she  was  with 
her  head  bandaged  up,  but  that  height- 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  101 

ened  her  beauty  to  him.  Medora  had 
come  up  the  mountain  for  the  Senior 
German  and  there  she  was.  A  little 
thing  like  a  cut  or  scar  or  even  bandages 
could  not  keep  her  away.  Roy  said  to 
himself:  "She  is  a  true  Spartan.  She 
has  spirit  as  well  as  beauty."  Medora's 
eyes  seemed  to  be  fixed  on  the  corner 
where  he  stood.  Their  eyes  met  fre- 
quently. He  exclaimed  to  himself: 
"What  in  the  dickens  does  all  this  mean 
anyway?"  "My!  but  she's  a  queen. 
Just  the  kind  of  woman  to  do  things  and 
inspire  others.  She  is  going  to  make 
some  man  happy." 

After  that  Medora  and  Roy  were  often 
seen  strolling  in  the  moonlight  in  the 
chapel  yard. 

After  the  German,  came  the  examina- 


102  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

tions.  Roy  had  passed  them  all  with 
credit.  Commencement  was  on.  This 
was  the  end  of  what  he  had  worked 
forward  to  for  seven  long  years.  A  bit 
of  parchment,  another  hood,  and  he  be- 
came a  graduate  of  Theology,  ready  for 
his  life  work.  There  were  two  people  in 
that  Commencement  audience  to  whom 
Roy's  graduation  meant  much, — his 
devoted  mother  and  the  little  brown- 
eyed  girl  who  looked  upon  him  as  her 
hero.  His  mother  was  overcome  with 
joy,  when  she  saw  with  tears  in  her  eyes, 
the  theological  hood  placed  around  his 
neck,  for  Roy  had  become  the  idol  of  her 
heart.  Only  a  short  while  ago,  she  was 
bereaved  of  her  devoted  husband, 
"Marse"  William  had  passed  to  the  Great 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  103 

Beyond  with  these  words:  "If  I  could 
only  hear  Roy  preach  one  sermon." 

Two  months  later  Roy  was  to  be 
ordained.  The  little  church  that  he  had 
built  was  chosen  as  the  place  of  the 
ordination  exercises.  A  crowd  of  his 
friends  and  admirers  had  determined  to 
be  present.  His  Bishop  was  to  preach 
the  sermon,  and  his  professor  of  "dogs" 
(Dogmatics)  to  present  him.  All  ar- 
rangements made,  the  question  arose: 
•'Shall  Medora  be  there?"  Roy,  puzzling 
his  brains  found  a  way  to  have  her  es- 
corted. The  day  arrived  and  the  pro- 
gram was  carried  out  in  detail  as  had 
been  planned,  the  Bishop  preaching  a 
magnificent  sermon,  for  "Father  Tom," 
as  his  Bishop  was  affectionately  called, 
had  a  national  reputation  as  a  preacher. 


104  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

His  standard  was  not  lowered  on  this 
occasion.  After  the  services  the  Bishop 
introduced  Roy's  proud  Mother  to 
Medora,  who  was  equally  proud  of  the 
young  deacon  just  ordained. 

At  luncheon,  after  the  service,  the 
Bishop  discovered  to  his  great  delight 
that  all  of  Roy's  time  had  not  been  taken 
up  in  preparation  for  his  ordination  and 
missions.  In  bidding  farewell  to  Roy 
and  Medora,  the  good  Bishop  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye  said:  "When  you 
youngsters  need  me,  I  will  be  delighted 
to  come."  The  young  people  looked  at 
each  other  and  smiled.  Medora  came  to 
the  rescue  with  a  heavenly  expression 
and  exclaimed:  "Oh,  how  kind  of  you 
Bishop." 

Little  did  the  Bishop  know  how  soon 


ROY'S  ROMANCE  105 

he  was  to  be  called  across  the  country 
to  make  his  word  good.  Roy  had  lost 
no  time  between  examinations  and  the 
day  when  the  Bishop  set  him  apart  as  a 
Deacon,  to  persuade  the  girl  of  his  choice 
to  become  his  companion  through  life, 
who  could  now  be  no  other  than  Medora. 
She  was  not  easily  persuaded  to  take 
such  a  serious  step,  but  Roy  persisted, 
overcoming,  as  in  the  past,  every 
obstacle  in  the  way.  Finally  the  answer 
was  given.  So  at  six  o'clock  one  morn- 
ing in  August,  Roy's  Bishop  pronounced 
them  man  and  wife,  and  their  journey 
through  life  began. 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE 

CHAPTER  V. 

What  could  be  more  natural  than  for 
Roy  to  settle  down  at  once  after  the 
honeymoon  in  the  little  yellow  rectory 
of  the  mountains?  In  all  sincerity  he 
answered  his  old  Virginia  Rector's  chal- 
lenge "Why  don't  you  do  it?"  A  happy 
year  passed  as  deacon,  and  he  was  ready 
to  be  advanced  to  the  priesthood.  There 
was  one  last  examination  now  to  be 
passed,  and  when  it  was  over  he  came 
forth  with  flying  colors,  thanking  God  in 
his  heart  that  never  again  was  he  to  be 
examined  by  man.  The  day  set,  "Father 
Tom"  again  preached  the  sermon  with 
power  and  feeling,  and  Roy  became  at 

106 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE 


last  a  Priest.  The  Bishop  was  Roy's  idol, 
for  by  this  time  they  had  learned  to 
know  each  other  intimately,  and  the 
Bishop  became  a  real  Father  in  God  to 
him.  After  his  ordination,  Roy  was  ap- 
pointed Rector  of  the  mountain  missions. 

It  now  became  his  pleasant  duty  to  do 
for  the  mountaineer  the  things  he  had 
discovered  to  be  necessary  as  a  layman 
while  working  in  the  mountains  as  a 
civil  engineer.  The  Highlander,  a  most 
interesting  character,  shrewd,  keen, 
thoughtful  and  unlettered,  is  after  all  by 
no  means  as  ignorant  as  one  might  sup- 
pose. 

The  first  thing  Roy  realized  was  the 
necessity  of  a  training  school  for  girls, 
feeling  that  the  home  must  be  improv- 
ed, for  it  takes  good,  intelligent  mothers 


108  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

to  produce  a  healthy  and  strong  society. 
After  all,  it  is  the  influence  of  the 
mother  that  lasts.  To  improve  her  con- 
dition was  going  to  the  very  root  of  the 
mountain  difficulty.  Roy  had  only  begun 
his  work  when  a  series  of  incidents  oc- 
curred which  ultimately  decided  hi^ 
course  in  that  direction. 

Among  the  mountain  folk  in  whom  he 
now  became  so  deeply  interested,  there 
was  one  old  woman  who  was  a  notorious 
character  in  her  community,  Aunt  Jane. 
She  lived  in  a  tiny  log  cabin  scarcely 
high  enough  for  one  to  stand  up  in  with 
no  windows,  two  doors  and  a  fire  place, 
in  other  words  a  typical  mountain  cabin. 
Along  one  side  of  this  building  was  a 
^ean-to,"  which  is  a  shed  room,  where 
she  cooked  and  ate.  She  was  more  for- 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  109 

tunate  than  most  of  her  neighbors,  for 
her  house  was  larger  than  was  common. 
In  front  of  it  was  a  roofed  porch.  But 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  she  could  keep 
the  water  out.  Down  the  hill  and  under 
the  house  and  porch  would  come  the 
rains,  and  she  fought  hard  to  keep  hei 
house  dry  as  it  was.  In  such  squalid 
surroundings,  Aunt  Jane  struggled  to 
eke  out  her  existence  as  an  outcast 
among  the  mountain  folk.  They  could 
not  overlook  her  immoral  manner  of  life. 
The  highlanders  with  their  simple  but 
stern  morality  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  her. 

Aunt  Jane  was  very  energetic,  always 
busy  trying  to  do  something.  She  had 
any  amount  of  chickens,  turkeys,  geese, 
guineas  and  pigs  running  unrestrained 


110  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

up  and  down  the  mountain  side.  She 
was  peculiarly  devoted  to  wild  birds. 
They  were  her  pets  and  no  one  could 
injure  them  if  she  could  prevent  it  She 
often  said:  "I  don't  know  what  I'd  ever 
do  without  them,  for  when  I'se  lonesome 
I  can  just  set  and  listen  to  the  birds  a- 
singin'.  Haint  they  just  the  sweetest 
things  the  Lord  ever  made!" 

It  was  nothing  unusual  seeing  her 
bustle  about  over  the  mountain  side  with 
a  big  stick,  looking  after  her  numerous 
family,  tame  or  wild.  To  see  her  thus 
but  once  was  to  conclude  that  old  Aunt 
Jane  was  their  devoted  friend.  Even  the 
birds  knew  this.  She  ever  roamed  to 
dare  any  hawk  or  wild  vermin  injure  her 
fcets,  talking  to  her  self  and  to  the  fowls 
and  animals.  These  also  seemed  to  take 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  111 

to  her.  There  was  a  common  under- 
standing between  them  all.  She  loved 
beauty  in  spite  of  her  squalid  surround- 
ings. Her  idealism  was  on  a  high  plane, 
and  her  nature  was  quaintly  poetical, 
but  sin  had  enticed  and  allured  her  soul, 
winding  around  it  the  cords  of  destruc- 
tion that  bound  her  to  the  earth.  With- 
out doubt,  Aunt  Jane  struggled  often 
with  herself  with  even  her  limited  moral 
resources.  Is  it  not  part  of  the  struggle 
to  hide  it  from  the  children  of  men?  At 
any  rate,  it  was  so  in  Aunt  Jane's  case. 

One  day  Aunt  Jane  fell  sick.  The 
doctor  was  sent  for.  He  came  with  the 
mountain  mission  teacher,  whom  Roy 
had  set  to  work.  The  doctor  and  the 
teacher  labored  faithfully  over  the  old 
woman  for  days  and  weeks.  The  doctor 


112  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

was  also  a  humorist  of  the  Mark  Twain 
variety,  but  could  swear  if  the  occasion 
demanded  it.  The  mission  teacher  was  a 
practical  nurse,  though  she  had  never 
taken  a  course  in  that  art.  She  nursed 
Jane,  and  at  odd  moments  proceeded  to 
scrub  the  cabin  and  clean  it  from  roof  to 
floor.  She  found  plenty  to  do.  And 
then  the  mission  teacher  looked  after 
Aunt  Jane's  soul,  as  well  as  her  body  and 
house.  She  worked  from  the  outside  to 
the  inside.  Changing  the  old  woman's 
environment,  she  instinctively  felt  was  a 
step  towards  changing  her  spirit.  The 
physician  declared  it  was  all  useless. 
"It's  no  use.  The  end  is  near.  She  will 
die,"  said  that  worthy.  But  the  mission 
teacher  worked  right  ahead,  kneeling  at 
her  bedside,  pouring  out  her  beautiful 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  118 

soul  in  agonies  of  prayer,  cleaning  the 
house,  nursing  the  patient.  At  last  a 
change  came  for  the  better.  Aunt  Jane's 
temperature  improved  and  her  pulse 
grew  stronger.  She  was  restored  to 
health,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
doctor  and  much  to  the  Mission  teacher's 
holy  joy.  The  teacher's  prayers  won  out 
over  the  doctor's  science.  And  why 
should  it  not  have  done  so?  Was  there 
not  a  life  to  be  saved  for  better  living? 
Aunt  Jane  made  no  promises,  but  she 
seemed  to  have  made  up  her  mind,  so 
far  as  the  little  teacher  could  observe,  to 
try  to  live  as  became  a  child  of  God. 
However,  like  so  many  others  who  go 
down  almost  into  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death  to  be  snatched  up  alive 
by  some  merciful  providence,  Aunt  Jane 

8 


114  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

soon  forgot,  and  fell  into  her  old  evil 
ways,  much  to  Roy's  perplexity.  It  was 
thought  by  all  that  it  was  a  senseless 
waste  of  time  to  try  to  help  an  old  wom- 
an like  this  who  did  not  seem  to  be  grate- 
ful at  all  for  her  recovery.  Too  long  had 
she  lived  her  life  of  disgrace.  The  doc- 
tor was  visibly  disheartened,  because  he, 
too,  had  hoped  that  in  the  battle  there 
would  be  a  moral  victory  as  well  as  a 
physical  one.  Though  he  swore  at  her, 
it  was  known  that  he  also  prayed  for 
her.  He  was  the  biggest-hearted  man  in 
the  country,  but  always  afraid  somebody 
would  find  it  out. 

Aunt  Jane's  old  sins  were  apparently 
getting  a  tighter  hold  than  ever.  A  re- 
lapse was  inevitable.  For  the  second 
time,  the  poor  creature  was  struck  down 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  115 

by  sickness.  The  same  doctor  was  sent 
for,  and  he  said :  "I  won't  have  anything 
to  do  with  her,  confound  her!" 

That  is  what  he  said,  but  what  he  did 
was  to  pack  up  his  medical  grip  and  send 
Roy  for  the  same  little  mission  teacher, 
who  had  "strangely"  nursed  Aunt  Jane 
back  to  life  only  a  short  while  before. 
There  were  the  same  conditions  to  com- 
bat, the  same  pessimism  in  the  doctor 
who  gave  her  up  to  die,  but  one  thing 
was  not  the  same,  and  that  was  the  mis- 
sion teacher's  faith.  It  was  stronger 
than  before.  The  doctor  had  consigned 
her  to  the  grave  already,  but  the  mission 
teacher  clung  closer  than  ever,  prayed 
harder  than  ever,  cleaned  the  house 
cleaner  than  ever,  and  became  more  de- 
termined to  find  the  divine  spark  in  Aunt 


116  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

r 

Jane  than  before.  It  was  her  business  to 
find  that  spark  in  her  soul,  just  as  it 
came  from  the  Creator's  hand. 

It  now  appears  that  Aunt  Jane  became 
more  attached  to  the  mission  teacher 
than  ever.  She  could  not  bear  her  out 
of  her  sight.  She  seemed  to  be  afraid  to 
be  alone.  Was  it  conscience?  Something 
was  happening  now  unknown  to  the  old 
woman.  The  mission  teacher  was  gradu- 
ally taking  a  place  in  her  affections  with 
the  wild  and  tame  animals  about  the 
place.  Here  was  something,  even  a  bit 
of  human  love  that  was  finding  its  way 
into  a  human  heart  crushed  under  the 
scorn  of  neighbors.  The  singing  of  the 
birds  still  charmed  her,  but  the  voice 
of  the  teacher  somehow  allured  her, 
whether  that  voice  was  raised  in  prayer 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  117 

cr  praise,  engaged  in  counsel  or  en- 
couragement. Life's  battle  now  was 
drawing  to  a  crisis  for  Aunt  Jane.  "I 
don't  know.  I've  been  fooled  by  her  be- 
fore. I'll  stay  and  watch  it  out  this 
time,"  said  the  doctor.  The  teacher 
prayed  harder  than  ever,  pouring  out 
her  hot  words  into  the  ear  of  God  as 
she  held  Aunt  Jane  tight  in  her  arms. 
The  old  woman  wept  as  the  young  wom- 
an prayed.  That  midnight  Aunt  Jane 
rallied  sure  enough.  She  was  going  to 
live !  The  doctor  looked  puzzled,  but  the 
teacher  knew.  Had  she  not  looked  unto 
the  hills  whence  cometh  aid  doctors 
know  not  of? 

The  doctor  had  tears  in  his  eyes  as  he 
watched  the  slow  recovery  that  night 
following  the  rally.  "What  does  it  all 


118  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

mean?  Can  she  be  pulling  through?" 
said  he  to  the  teacher.  "Yes,  doctor," 
was  the  teacher's  simple  answer.  Aunt 
Jane  recovered.  The  whole  country  side 
watched  her.  Would  she  be  better  now 
after  two  such  marvelous  recoveries? 
This  was  the  question  asked  by  all  the 
neighbors,  one  of  another.  The  mission 
teacher  hoped  against  hope.  It  was  the 
same  old  story.  Back  into  sin  Aunt  Jane 
fell  ungratefully.  The  doctor  said:  "The 
next  time  she  gets  sick,  she  may  die.  I 
won't  go  to  her  again.  She  is  not  worth 
the  trouble." 

"What's  the  use,  the  old  hag  has  lived 
in  sin  so  long  that  she  cannot  appreciate 
the  good,"  declared  the  mountain  gos- 
sips. But  all  this  was  a  mistake.  The 
mission  teacher  didn't  give  up.  She 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  119 

knew  there  must  be  a  way  of  reaching 
the  poor  old  soul.  But  how? 

One  day  Aunt  Jane  went  to  the  poor 
house.  There  she  found  a  mountain 
woman  dying  with  tuberculosis.  By  her 
side  was  a  six-year-old  girl.  At  a  glance 
Aunt  Jane  took  in  the  situation.  That 
girl  must  soon  be  an  orphan.  A  pitiful 
situation  faced  Aunt  Jane.  She  went  to 
the  keeper  of  the  poor  house  as  if  moved 
by  magic.  To  him  she  said: 

"Her  mother  will  soon  be  gone,  and 
nobody  haint  goin'  to  care  for  the  little 
'un  when  her  mother  is  gone.  I  ain't  got 
very  much,  but  I'll  do  the  best  I  can.  I 
get  lonesome,  so  lonesome,  and  I  ain't  got 
nobody  to  love.  Nowadays  things  be  dif- 
ferent. I  am  old  and  ugly.  Let  me  have 
that  child." 


120  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

The  keeper  saw  a  chance  to  shift  re- 
sponsibility. He  let  Aunt  Jane  have  the 
child.  When  the  mother  died,  in  a  few 
days,  little  Bessie  went  to  Aunt  Jane's 
house.  A  howl  of  protest  went  up  in  the 
little  mountain  community.  "It's  your 
business  to  go  to  court  and  complain," 
said  one  to  another,  "that  Aunt  Jane 
isn't  the  proper  person  to  take  care  of 
this  child."  You  know  her  home  is  no 
place  for  a  child."  But  who  would  go? 
No  one  wanted  the  responsibility.  Each 
attempted  to  designate  some  one  else  as 
the  proper  person  to  make  complaint. 
Consequently  no  one  went.  But  some- 
thing seemed  to  say  to  Roy  and  his  mis- 
sion teacher  (who,  the  reader  may  have 
guessed  by  this  time,  was  Medora,  Roy's 
own  wife);  "Let  her  alone,  give  her  a 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  131 

chance.  Maybe  this  is  God's  way,  how 
do  we  know?  Don't  you  remember  Silas 
Marner?" 

Roy  and  Mrs.  Roy  watched  Aunt  Jane 
with  her  new  Bessie.  They  prayed  for 
them,  prayed  with  them,  influenced  them 
as  best  they  could.  They  never  gave  up. 
One  bright  morning  they  saw  Aunt 
Jane  at  the  door  with  little  Bessie.  It 
was  plain  that  Aunt  Jane  was  not  at  her 
case.  She  was  asked  kindly  what  she 
wanted,  and  Aunt  Jane  said: — 

"Won't  you  take  Bess  and  teach  her 
and  help  her.  I  haint  got  nothing  and 
can't  do  nothing  to  help  her,  but  I  love 
her  just  the  same.  I  want  to  do  all  I  can 
for  her.  Won't  you  take  her  and  educate 
her?" 

Evidently  Aunt  Jane  wanted  to  give 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


Bessie  a  good  schooling,  but  where  were 
there  any  suitable  schools  in  the  moun- 
tains for  Bessie  to  attend?  At  once  a 
need  presented  itself  to  Roy.  Later  on  it 
will  be  seen  how  he  went  to  work  to 
supply  that  need.  Aunt  Jane  said:  "I 
want  to  see  her  write  and  read  like 
other  children  I  read  about,  and  to 
learn  something."  There  was  noth- 
ing else  to  do  but  for  the  mission 
teacher,  who  was  helping  Roy  so  val- 
iantly in  his  new  work,  to  teach  Bes- 
sie herself.  The  Roys  took  her  and 
taught  her  her  A.  B.  C.'s  in  the  little 
makeshift  church  mission  school.  They 
took  Bessie  to  Sunday  School  and  to 
church,  too.  She  was  eager  to  learn,  and 
soon  became  acquainted  with  and  de- 
voted to  the  Roys,  and  a  popular  child 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  128 

with  everyone.    The  effect  on  Aunt  Jane 
began  to  be  apparent. 

They  could  see  the  affection  of  the  old 
woman  for  the  child,  and  the  child  for 
the  old  woman.  So  much  was  this  so, 
that  the  child  was  becoming  in  some  re- 
spects like  Aunt  Jane,  who  would  stand 
and  watch  Bessie  cross  the  road  into' 
Roy's  house,  where  the  mission  teacher 
would  take  her  in  charge.  Every  even- 
ing no  matter  what  the  state  of  the 
weather,  Aunt  Jane  would  come  to  the 
top  of  the  hill  and  watch  her  from  the 
rectory  across  the  railroad  safely.  To- 
gether woman  and  child  would  then  do 
the  chores  for  the  evening.  They  seemed 
to  be  happy. 

Soon  neighbors,  ever  alert  to  criticise, 
were    exchanging    better    reports     of 


134  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

Aunt  Jane.  The  old  woman  was  slowly 
changing  since  the  child  had  come  into 
her  starved  life.  Her  heart  was  large, 
gentle  and  kind,  but  to  get  mind,  body 
and  soul  united  in  one  purpose  was  en- 
tirely beyond  her  comprehension.  Roy 
was  patient,  never  losing  an  opportunity 
to  go  to  her  and  do  what  he  could.  He 
constantly  found  her  mind  wandering 
back  to  the  things  that  had  darkened 
her  path,  and  also  the  hard,  cold  re- 
ligion that  had  been  taught  her.  This 
teaching  could  never  reveal  to  her 
poor  soul  the  loving  Father  of  all.  The 
story  of  the  prodigal  so  distorted  by 
religious  teachers,  she  had  not  the  ability 
to  understand.  The  church  as  a  hospital 
was  unknown  to  her.  To  get  hold  of  her 
mind,  Roy  had  to  be  continually  on  his 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  125 

guard,  using  every  means  presented  to 
him. 

Not  long  after  she  had  been  confirmed, 
Bessie  was  taken  sick.  Tuberculosis 
was  soon  to  do  its  deadly  work.  That  in- 
deed is  one  of  the  terrors  of  the  moun- 
tains. Mrs.  Roy  nursed  Bessie  as  she 
had  nursed  Aunt  Jane,  and  the  affection 
between  nurse  and  child  was  inspiring. 
Every  particle  of  work  that  was  done 
was  a  labor  of  love.  The  doctor  was 
called.  As  usual  he  was  faithful,  con- 
siderate and  kind,  for  he  practiced  medi- 
cine for  the  love  of  relieving  suffering 
humanity.  He  was  a  "beloved  physi- 
cian," just  as  St.  Luke  was  long  ago  in 
St.  Paul's  mind.  Work  and  fight  as 
physician  and  nurse  would,  Bessie 
seemed  destined  to  go.  The  doctor  dis- 


1M  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

covered  that  but  little  could  be  done. 
Rapidly  she  was  passing  away.  She  lay 
in  a  little  bed  by  the  door,  where  she 
could  hear  the  church  bell  ring  out  the 
hours  of  service,  and  would  say  to  her 
adopted  mother:  "I  wish  I  could  go, 
but  never  mind  the  teacher  will  be  over 
after  awhile,  and  she  will  tell  me  all 
about  the  children  and  the  service. 
Maybe  some  day  I  will  be  able  to  go 
back  again."  Frequently  when  Mrs.  Roy 
visited  her,  Bessie  would  ask  almost  in- 
audibly,  "I  wish  I  could  have  the  Com- 
munion." She  had  been  taught  by  Roy 
how  God  fed  His  children  on  spiritual 
food  from  His  Altar,  which  would 
strengthen  her  for  the  battle  of  life.  But 
Roy  was  away  and  no  priest  could  be 
gotten  until  his  return  from  a  long  busi- 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  127 

ness  trip.  One  cold,  bleak  December 
day,  late  in  the  afternoon,  Roy  arrived. 
His  wife  met  him  at  the  train,  and  told 
him  the  doctor  had  given  Bessie  up,  say- 
ing: "She's  going  to  die,  I  fear."  Mrs. 
Roy  asked  "When  can  you  give  her  the 
Holy  Communion?"  Roy  responded: 
"Now,  let  us  go  straight  to  the  house." 
And  they  set  out  for  the  little  log  hut. 
It  was  cold,  damp,  dark  and  dreary,  with 
no  light  in  the  hut  except  a  little  glow 
from  the  fireplace.  In  one  corner  of  the 
room  was  a  pile  of  potatoes,  turnips  and 
corn  that  had  been  stored  away  for  the 
Winter.  In  another  corner  was  the  pork 
packed  away.  Near  the  center  of  the 
room  stood  the  little  bed  on  which  Bessie 
was  lying.  By  the  bed  was  a  table  made 
from  a  few  split  boards  from  a  white 


128  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

oak.  Roy  knew  the  service  and  did  not 
have  to  use  a  book,  so  he  celebrated  the 
Holy  Communion,  giving  Bessie  the  food 
for  which  she  had  been  waiting  so  long. 
After  the  service  Bessie's  voice  seemed 
a  bit  stronger,  but  she  could  only  say 
'•Thank  you." 

Aunt  Jane  came  while  the  service  was 
going  on,  but  would  not  enter  the  house. 
She  stood  on  the  porch  outside,  where 
the  fowls  were  roosting  and  the  pigs 
squealing.  Her  head  was  bowed  low  in 
an  attitude  of  prayer  while  the  service 
was  being  finished.  On  leaving  the  house, 
Aunt  Jane  took  Roy  by  the  hand,  but 
uttered  not  a  word.  That  clasp  of  hand 
will  never  be  forgotten  by  him. 

The  Roys  returned  to  their  home,  but 
Mrs.  Roy  could  not  linger,  as  she  was 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  129 

thinking  of  poor  little  Bessie.  The  end 
seemed  so  near.  Mrs.  Roy  waited  and 
watched  by  the  bedside  through  the  long 
cold  night.  Early  in  the  morning  as 
light  was  beginning  to  break  through 
the  dark  clouds  of  the  East,  Bessie's 
spirit  was  taken  upward.  The  news  went 
out  that  Bessie  was  gone. 

The  neighborhood  was  stirred  with  a 
feeling  of  love  for  this  poor  little  orphan 
child,  now  gone  from  their  midst. 

Roy  and  his  wife  were  called  on  to  get 
Bessie  ready  for  the  funeral.  Aunt  Jane 
would  allow  nothing  to  be  done  unless 
Mrs.  Roy  sanctioned  it.  The  prepara- 
tions made,  Aunt  Jane  said  to  Roy: 
•'Can't  we  take  her  to  the  church  and 
bury  her  from  there.  Bessie  longed  day 
after  day  to  go,  but  she  was  too  weak, 

9 


180  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

and  now  she  is  dead,  won't  you  carry  her 
to  the  church  and  bury  her  from  there?" 
Roy  replied:  "Yes,  and  you  must  go 
too."  Aunt  Jane  shook  her  head  and 
said  "No."  Roy  insisted,  and  finally  she 
consented.  Bessie  was  buried  from  the 
little  mountain  chapel  with  Aunt  Jane 
present. 

Everybody  in  the  community  came, 
for  Bessie  was  the  idol  of  the  place. 
Bessie's  schoolmates  loved  her  and  had 
told  their  parents  about  her  beautiful 
character.  Bessie  had  been  so  gentle 
and  kind,  always  unselfish — which  never 
fails  to  attract  the  young.  Bessie's  life, 
though  short,  had  been  well  spent,  and 
she  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  little  grave- 
yard by  tender  loving  hands.  The  ser- 
vice at  the  church  concluded,  all  re- 


ROY  AND  AUNT  JANE  181 

turned  to  their  homes,  wondering  how 
this  would  affect  Aunt  Jane,  and  com- 
menting upon  the  faithfulness  of  Roy 
and  Mrs.  Roy,  the  doctor  and  the  rest  of 
the  workers  who  had  spent  long  days 
watching  and  nursing. 

Roy  would  frequently  hear  the  moun- 
tain people  say:  "Was  this  all  for 
nought?"  For  these  poor  mountain  folk 
could  not  understand.  Their  life  and 
training  had  been  different.  While  they 
were  kind  and  gentle,  they  were  stern 
and  determined,  almost  cruel  at  times. 
Once  their  minds  are  made  up,  it  is  al- 
most hopeless  to  attempt  to  change 
them.  The  talk  of  the  community  for 
the  next  week  was  what  would  become 
of  old  Aunt  Jane  now. 

Sunday  came  and  as  Roy  entered  the 


132  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

little  mission  chapel  for  service,  his  eyes 
fell  first  on  Aunt  Jane  sitting  in  the 
back  seat  with  her  head  bowed  low  as  if 
meditating.  She  would  not  so  much  as 
lift  up  her  eyes  and  seemed  to  say  "Lord, 
be  merciful  unto  me."  From  that  time 
on,  the  church  bell  has  not  rung  for  ser- 
vice without  Aunt  Jane  being  present. 
When  anything  is  to  be  done,  she  is  quick 
to  add  her  little  mite  in  whatever  way 
she  can,  always  wanting  to  do  something 
for  the  church,  wishing  to  keep  God's 
house  as  beautiful  as  she  can.  Strug- 
gling against  herself,  she  won  the  vic- 
tory. Baptized  and  confirmed,  she  went 
forward  with  the  spirit  and  strength  of 
a  true  Christian  soldier,  for  a  little  child 
had  led  her. 


ROY'S  GIRLS'  SCHOOL. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  experience  with  Aunt  Jane  had 
impressed  one  fact  vividly  upon  Roy's 
mind — the  need  for  a  girl's  school.  The 
mothers  were  the  ones  in  the  mountains, 
who  trained  girls  and  brought  them  up 
into  the  same  life  of  slovenliness,  care- 
lessness and  indifference.  Unless  the 
mothers  of  the  future  could  be  changed, 
there  was  every  reason  to  believe  that 
existing  conditions  would  be  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation. 

In  launching  his  project  for  a  girl's 
school.  Roy  found  himself  pitted  im- 
mediately against  numerous  obstacles, 
principal  among  which  were  finances  and 

133 


134  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

teachers.  One  adviser  told  him  that  the 
money  once  secured,  it  would  be  a  simple 
matter  to  find  teachers.  Another  sug- 
gested that  after  the  teachers  had  been 
found,  the  money  would  come  in  of  its 
own  accord.  Not  having  either,  Roy  was 
in  no  position  to  disprove  either  or  both 
btatements. 

It  was  while  puzzling  over  these  prob- 
lems that  Roy  received  word  of  a  re- 
ligious order  of  Sisters  that  was  shortly 
to  visit  the  mountains.  The  news  was 
an  inspiration.  Roy  interviewed  the 
Mother  Superior,  and  suggested  that  her 
body  assume  the  responsibility  of  edu- 
cating and  bringing  up  the  mountain 
girls.  As  might  have  been  expected,  the 
Mother  Superior's  first  reply  was  a  pro- 
test. There  were  no  means  to  carry  on 


ROY'S  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  186 

the  work,  and  the  mountain  did  not  offer 
any  accommodations  to  the  order.  Nor 
was  there  any  chaplain  on  hand  to  assist 
them. 

As  a  final  concession  the  Mother  Su- 
perior offered  to  think  the  matter  over; 
and  there  Roy's  tenacity  won  the  battle. 
He  advised  that  instead  of  merely  think- 
ing the  matter  over  she  visit  the  moun- 
tains, and  remain  long  enough  to  under- 
stand the  nature  of  the  work  demanded. 
It  required  only  one  week  for  her  to  de- 
cide to  take  up  this  task.  "Provided," 
she  added,  "that  sufficient  funds  are 
secured  to  render  our  work  here  effec- 
tive, as  well  as  enthusiastic." 

The  statement  brought  Roy  face  to 
face  with  a  crisis.  Friends  in  all  sin- 
cerity advised  him  to  go  and  get  money. 


136  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

For  a  young  man,  barely  two  years  a 
minister,  who  had  never  seen  anything 
of  the  world  outside  of  the  mountain  re- 
gions, it  was  like  asking  a  mongoose  to 
lift  up  a  crowbar. 

Where  to  go  and  how  to  begin  was  a 
puzzle  to  Roy,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
he  didn't  have  money  enough  to  pay  his 
railroad  fare,  but  nothing  could  daunt 
him.  He  borrowed  some  money  from  a 
Swiss  friend,  and  with  a  letter  from  his 
Bishop  in  his  pocket,  he  set  forth  on  his 
migrations,  starting  directly  for  Boston. 
There,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  Roy 
saw  the  wonders  of  a  real  metropolitan 
city.  He  was  bewildered  by  the  jostling 
crowds;  and  the  size  of  the  buildings 
amazed  him.  Never  before  had  he  seen 
hotels  or  railway  terminals  of  such  size 


ROY'S  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  187 

or  magnificence.  But  on  the  other  hand, 
Boylston  street,  State  street.  Federal 
street  or  Washington  street  were  all 
alike  to  him.  There  was  only  one  ob- 
jective point  in  his  mind,  and  that  was  a 
rectory  on  Commonwealth  avenue,  where 
he  knew  that  his  letter  from  the  Bishop 
would  secure  him  at  least  a  hearing. 

The  rector  justified  all  expectations. 
He  proved  to  be  more  than  friendly  and 
Roy's  greenness  attracted  rather  than 
repelled  him.  After  taking  the  letter  of 
introduction  and  hearing  something 
about  the  mountains,  he  asked  Roy: 

'What  are  you  going  to  do  Sunday?" 

"Nothing  in  particular,  sir." 

The  rector  answered  promptly:  "No 
engagement!  Then  you  must  come 


138  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

around  and  tell  my  congregation  of  your 
mountain  work  next  Sunday." 

Roy  stammered.  He  had  heard  some- 
thing of  the  size  and  intellectual  equip- 
ment of  the  congregations  in  that  city 
and  the  thought  of  addressing  them 
paralyzed  him. 

"But  I  have  no  training  in  addressing 
any  but  mountain  congregations." 

"So  much  the  better,"  replied  the 
rector  kindly,  "your  words  will  have  the 
ring  of  sincerity." 

The  talk  that  Roy  gave  that  Sunday 
morning  was  the  result  of  their  com- 
bined efforts,  of  inspiration  on  the  one 
side,  and  warm  hearted  suggestions  on 
the  other.  Roy  spoke  frankly  of  condi- 
tions in  the  mountains,  and  of  the  needs 
of  the  people.  His  sincerity  overcame 


ROY'S  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  199 

his  stage  fright,  and  the  words  sank 
deep.  After  the  service  several  of  the 
congregation  approached  Roy  and  stated 
iheir  willingness  to  aid  in  the  work. 

"Sir,"  one  elderly  gentleman  addressed 
Roy,  "the  deprivations  in  the  South  have 
never  been  brought  as  vividly  before  us 
as  your  words  brought  them  this  morn- 
ing. We  have  never  been  fully  cognizant 
of  the  conditions  there, — and,  if  you  will 
call  around  during  the  week,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  give  you  a  more  material  ex- 
pression of  sympathy." 

He  gave  Roy  a  business  card  and  re- 
marked that  any  time  between  eight  and 
five  would  be  the  right  time  to  call. 
That  was  merely  a  start.  The  following 
week  was  a  six-day  stretch  of  alternate 
ups  and  downs.  Roy  set  in  to  the  task  of 


140  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

personal  solicitation,  ringing  doorbells, 
listening  to  various  social  excuses  and 
generally  wearing  out  shoe  leather. 
During  the  week,  the  rector  advised  and 
encouraged,  always  lending  his  personal 
aid  and  influence. 

From  Boston  Roy  continued  on  his 
journey  southward,  taking  in  the  small 
and  large  cities  alike,  and  a  good  Samari- 
tan would  appear  at  every  turn.  While 
Roy  had  not  fallen  among  thieves,  the 
good  Samaritan  was  necessary,  even  if 
only  for  consultation  purposes.  On  the 
whole  he  found  people  more  than  inter- 
ested in  the  problem  and  willing  to  con- 
tribute their  share.  Of  the  ever  present 
class  ready  to  present  hypocritical  social 
excuses,  Roy  never  spoke  later  on,  on 


ROY'S  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  141 

the  general  principle  that  it  was  wrong 
to  refer  disrespectfully  to  the  absent. 

Much  to  the  surprise  of  Roy's  Bishop 
and  everyone  else,  he ,  returned  to  his 
mountain  home  with  sufficient  financial 
strength  to  place  the  house  in  order  and 
comfort  and  to  finance  the  school  for  a 
year,  the  Sisters  being  on  the  ground 
and  the  work  well  under  way  to  be 
finished  before  the  Christmas  holidays. 
The  Sisters  and  Roy  found  themselves 
swamped  with  applications  from  the 
girls  of  the  mountains.  The  building  was 
soon  completed  and  the  house  filled  with 
workers  and  children  before  the  Christ- 
mas carols  were  to  be  sung.  That  Christ- 
mas Roy  ever  keeps  green  in  his 
memory.  At  midnight  on  Christmas 
Eve,  Roy  with  the  teachers  and  children 


142  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

celebrated  the  Holy  Communion.  A 
glorious  night  that  was  on  the  moun- 
tain top,  cold,  crisp,  the  stars  shining 
bright.  One  could  easily  in  imagination 
picture  the  Star  over  Bethlehem  an- 
nouncing to  the  world  the  birth  of  the 
Christ  Child. 

Soon,  however,  it  was  evident  that  Roy 
must  try  his  hand  again,  for  the  school 
was  very  much  cramped  for  space,  and 
scores  of  children  who  were  knocking  at 
the  doors  for  admission,  had  to  be  turned 
away.  Starting  out  again,  he  secured 
sufficient  means  to  enlarge  the  building 
and  money  for  bread  and  clothes.  Going 
somewhat  over  the  same  ground,  meet- 
ing the  same  people  that  he  had  met  be- 
fore, he  and  his  new-made  friends  be- 
came better  acquainted.  As  he  told  the 


ROY'S  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  148 

story  of  the  needs  of  the  highlanders,  of 
what  the  church  was  trying  to  do  for 
them,  response  came,  and  with  a  glad- 
dened heart  he  returned,  ready  for  the 
completion  of  the  addition  to  the  school. 
Getting  the  school  in  good  running  order 
and  in  secure  hands,  his  attention  was 
now  turned  to  another  side  of  life.  Some- 
thing must  be  done  for  the  boys. 

The  mountain  boy  is  shy  and  of  few 
words,  especially  to  one  he  has  not 
known  long.  Roy  wondered  whether 
these  boys  would  apply  themselves,  if 
they  had  the  opportunity,  and  what  sort 
of  opportunity  they  should  have.  This 
was  a  perplexing  question  to  him.  He 
had  sent  several  to  a  preparatory  school, 
and  practically  all  of  them  had  failed. 
He  soon  discovered  it  was  neither  the 


144  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

fault  of  the  school  or  the  boy,  but  of 
conditions.  In  spite  of  hard  work  none 
of  the  boys  could  ever  pass  an  examina- 
tion. Finding  out  that  these  boys,  though 
they  had  attempted  to  read  and  write, 
could  do  neither,  he  resolved  to  start 
them  with  the  three  R's.  At  once  with 
his  characteristic  vigor,  he  set  himself 
to  the  task.  In  the  first  place  he  bought 
a  tract  of  land,  and  then  set  out  to  ap- 
peal for  the  boys  in  the  mountains. 

Much  to  his  surprise  he  was  invited 
to  make  an  address  in  a  small  town  in 
Pennsylvania.  How  they  knew  anything 
about  him,  or  why  they  asked  him,  was 
a  puzzle  to  him.  On  reaching  the  little 
place  he  made  the  strongest  appeal  he 
knew  how,  stating  that  the  girls  were 
provided  for  and  were  being  taught  how 


ROY'S  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  145 

to  have  a  Christian  home,  and  that  these 
girls  would  soon  pass  through  the  school 
and  would  marry.  Whom  are  they  going 
to  marry? 

Surely  the  boys  must  be  trained  equally 
well  to  become  successful  life  partners  of 
the  girls. 

After  the  address  was  over,  a  young 
unmarried' lady  of  19  came  up  and  bash- 
fully said  that  she  would  like  to  con- 
tribute $5,000.00  for  the  boys'  school, 
which,  of  course,  he  could  not  refuse. 

Tramping  the  country  from  place  to 
place,  he  met  some  delightful  people  who 
were  interested  in  the  undertaking  and 
who  responded  generously.  The  prop- 
erty and  finances  were  assured  for  a 
year  or  two,  but  the  old  problem  came 

up    again — who    was    to    conduct    the 
10 


146  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

school?  Thinking  for  awhile  he  won- 
dered if  there  could  not  be  a  religious 
order  of  men.  He  made  inquiries  as  he 
journeyed  from  place  to  place.  Such  an 
order  was  discovered  and  he  was  advised 
to  interest  its  members  in  his  project. 
So  he  set  to  work,  but  in  spite  of  his  best 
efforts,  the  order  declined  to  consider 
the  proposal. 

His  heart  was  set  upon  it,  however, 
and  he  persisted.  Finally  he  succeeded 
in  getting  one  of  the  order  to  spend  a 
Winter  with  him  in  the  mountains.  The 
ups  and  downs  that  he  and  the  Father 
experienced  in  studying  the  mountain 
character  together  and  the  extravagant 
ideas  the  Father  had  as  to  missionary 
work  among  the  mountains,  made  it  ex- 
tremely interesting.  They  were  con- 


ROY'S  GIRLS'  SCHOOL  147 

stantly  together,  visiting  the  homes  of 
the  highlanders  day  after  day,  and  on 
Sundays  they  would  have  services  at  one 
of  the  mission  chapels  which  were  rapid- 
ly multiplying  with  the  growing  interest 
of  the  work. 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

On  these  excursions  into  the  moun- 
tains and  down  into  the  coves,  they  had 
had  many  novel  experiences,  especially 
through  their  acquaintance  with  George 
Washington  Atkins  and  his  brothers 
and  sisters. 

George  Washington  Atkins,  a  little 
urchin  of  seven  years,  lived  with  his 
mother  and  father  in  a  log  house  with- 
out windows,  one  door  and  a  port-hole. 
The  house  was  ten  by  twelve.  Like  Aunt 
Jane's  house,  it  was  very  difficult  to 
stand  in.  This  house  was  situated  on  the 
bench  of  the  mountain,  near  the  top.  Al- 
most surrounded  by  mountains  was  a 

148 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL  148 

bubbling  spring.  Only  a  few  feet  away 
from  the  house,  one  could  hear  the  song 
of  the  birds  or  the  bark  of  the  squirrel. 
No  choir  can  equal  the  singing  of  the 
birds  in  the  springtime,  especially  in  the 
early  morning  when  the  sun  is  just  be- 
ginning to  rise.  They  seem  to  know  that 
the  Spring  is  here,  and  what  joy  bursts 
from  their  little  throats,  as  they  tell  the 
world  the  music  of  the  hills! 

Living  in  these  idyllic  conditions,  it 
would  seem  that  one  would  try  to  live 
more  in  the  spirit  of  their  beauty  and 
harmony.  But  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Atkins  with 
their  seven  children — George  Washing- 
ton, the  youngest,  the  others — Cramp, 
Tank,  Hop,  Pop  among  the  boys,  and 
Maggie  Lucretia  Caledonia  Minerva 
and  Cassie,  the  two  girls — surrounded  as 


150  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

they  were  by  everything  that  would  in- 
spire one  to  beauty  and  cleanliness,  lived 
in  poverty  and  filth.  George  Washing- 
ton's face  had  never  been  washed  since 
he  came  into  the  world. 

One  morning  as  the  Father  in  com- 
pany with  Roy,  started  out  to  visit  the 
mountain  homes,  they  came  across  the 
Atkins  house.  As  they  approached  they 
saw  little  George  playing  with  mud.  He 
was  trying  to  make  mud  pies.  Pausing 
for  a  moment  they  sought  to  draw  the 
little  fellow  into  a  conversation,  but 
found  him  too  shy. 

"I  sometimes  wonder,"  the  Father  re- 
marked, "whether  it  would  do  any  good 
to  place  the  alphabet  in  the  mind  of  a 
child  like  that." 

They  had  reached  the  cabin  by  that 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL 


time ;  and  while  the  Father  was  speaking 
to  the  Atkins  family,  composed  of  Mrs. 
Atkins,  Cramp,  Tank,  Hop,  Pop,  Mag- 
gie Lucretia  and  Cassie,  Roy  decided 
upon  an  experiment  of  his  own.  He  got 
hold  of  George  and  began  to  talk  to  him. 
George  muttered  some  unintelligible 
words.  Roy  saw  that  he  was  a  friendly 
child  and  began  to  play  with  him.  They 
were  soon  good  friends.  Roy  took 
George  down  to  the  spring,  got  his  face 
washed  and  combed  his  hair. 

Comb,  soap  and  towels  are  among  the 
ordinary  components  of  a  mountain  mis- 
sionary's emergency  kit,  and  with  these 
in  his  pockets  and  a  natural  spring  at 
his  disposal,  it  took  Roy  about  five  min- 
utes to  effect  a  transformation.  Young 
George  returned  to  the  house  with  his 


152  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

hair  nicely  combed  and  brushed,  his 
clothes  cleaned  and  a  ruddy  pink  color 
on  cheeks  that  had  previously  been 
brown. 

Mrs.  Atkins  gave  her  youngest  one 
amazed  look,  and  then  exclaimed: — 

"Wai,  the  Lord  knows  that  man  has 
been  doing  some  work  to  get  your  face 
clean." 

The  Father,  who  had  witnessed  the 
whole  scene  with  some  enjoyment,  was 
pleased  at  the  pride  Mrs.  Atkins  showed 
in  her  son's  appearance.  If  the  Atkins 
family  could  display  such  enthusiasm 
over  a  mere  physical  cleaning,  what 
would  they  not  give  for  the  spiritual 
"washing"  in  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ? 
And  his  interest  in  the  work  grew  ac- 
cordingly. 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL  158 

When  the  usual  parcels  of  gifts  began 
to  reach  the  mountains  at  Christmas 
time,  there  was  among  the  number,  a 
bundle  containing  a  lady's  beautifully 
hand-embroidered  night  gown.  After 
the  article  had  been  properly  identified, 
a  difficult  task  for  the  people  who 
worked  in  the  mountains,  the  problem  of 
distribution  followed. 

The  Father  now  had  his  entire  interest 
centered  on  the  Atkins  family,  and  at 
once  suggested  that  the  gift  be  sent  to 
Cassie.  Roy  readily  acceded  to  this  sug- 
gestion and  gave  the  nightgown  to  the 
mission  worker  with  some  additional  in- 
structions to  Cassie  as  to  how  and  when 
it  should  be  worn. 

That  is  where  fate  intervened.  Some 
one  else  was  going  over  to  the  Atkins 


154  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

home  anyway,  so  the  mission  worker 
turned  over  the  parcel  to  her  successor. 
The  question  of  giving  the  instructions 
never  occurred  to  her  mind.  It  was 
ridiculous  to  have  to  tell  anybody  how  to 
use  a  nightgown  she  thought.  The  net 
result  was  that  the  following  Sunday 
morning  Cassie  appeared  in  church 
wearing  the  night  gown  hind  part  be- 
fore, in  place  of  her  usual  dress. 

When  the  two  clergymen  went  into 
the  service,  whom  should  they  see  in 
the  front  seat  but  Cassie  with  the  night- 
gown on  as  a  dress,  and  on  backwards! 
Cassie  enjoyed  it.  It  was  the  prettiest 
thing  she  had  ever  seen,  so  why  not  wear 
it  as  she  did?  As  a  dress  it  gave  her 
more  pleasure  than  it  would  have  done 
had  she  worn  it  as  originally  intended. 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL  155 

But  imagine  the  clergy!  And  especially 
the  Father  of  a  religious  order,  as  he 
was  conducting  the  service! 

Altogether,  it  was  an  unfortunate  day 
for  the  Atkins  family.  Young  George 
fell  asleep  during  the  service  and  snored 
so  loudly  that  Cassie  was  obliged  to 
awaken  him;  and  the  disturbance  only 
drew  more  attention  to  her  dress.  Also 
as  the  congregation  was  departing  from 
the  church,  Mr.  Atkins  stumbled  by  in  a 
semi-circular  course,  bearing  rather 
heavily  the  full  effects  of  a  Saturday 
night  at  the  "blockade"  still. 

When  the  Father  and  Roy  held  their 
Sunday  noon  conference,  the  Atkins 
family  came  in  for  a  good  portion  of  the 
discussion.  To  try  and  talk  to  Mr.  At- 
kins in  his  present  state  would  merely 


ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 


have  created  enmity,  while  to  attempt  to 
tell  Cassie  why  she  should  not  use  a 
night  dress  for  a  frock,  would  have  only 
served  to  drive  her  away  from  the 
church.  It  was  through  George  that  the 
Atkins  family  had  to  be  reached. 

Logically  speaking,  he  was  the  latch- 
key to  that  home;  and  Roy  decided  that 
the  best  way  to  find  that  key  would  be  to 
bring  George  alone  to  Sunday  School. 
The  plan  worked  even  better  than  had 
been  expected.  He  never  asked  where  he 
was  being  driven  that  cold  Sabbath 
morning.  And  once  in  the  Sunday  School 
he  took  a  keen  interest  in  the  lesson  of 
John  the  Baptist  baptizing  Jesus.  The 
term  fascinated  him.  He  wished  to  know 
all  about  it  and  asked  to  be  baptized  im- 
mediately. 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL  157 

"Not  yet,"  Roy  replied,  "a  little  while 
longer  and  you  shall  be  baptized." 

The  Father  heard;  and  he  knew  that 
the  seed  had  taken  root. 

Back  in  the  log  cabin  on  a  bench  near 
the  summit  of  the  mountain  that  after- 
noon, a  seven-year-old  boy  repeated  to  an 
uncouth,  hard-visaged  mountaineer  the 
story  of  the  missionary  who  prepared 
the  world  for  the  coming  of  the  Savior. 
Told  in  the  mountain  lingo,  as  it  was,  it 
brought  to  Mr.  Atkins  not  only  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  words,  but  also  the 
simple  meaning  of  the  text.  That  after- 
noon Mr.  Atkins  sat  around  at  home.  If 
he  spoke  to  no1  one  it  was  because  the 
moral  battle  in  his  soul  was  beginning. 
The  puzzle  that  has  recurred  to  man 
ever  since  the  days  of  the  Prodigal  Son 


168  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

was  occupying  his  mind.  When  he  did 
utter  a  few  words  of  his  own  accord,  it 
was  merely  to  call  George  to  him  for  a 
further  explanation  of  something  that 
had  been  said. 

Towards  night  time  Mrs.  Atkins  came 
up  to  tell  her  spouse  that  there  was  no 
liquor  left  from  Saturday  night;  and 
while  ordinarily  such  news  would  have 
provoked  war,  this  time  it  produced  no 
effect  at  all 

"Yuh  ain't  sick?"  Mrs.  Atkins  inquired 
querulously,  and  then  instantly  regretted 
the  question.  Long  training  had  accus- 
tomed her  to  her  husband's  various 
moods  and  she  realized  that  now  he  was 
thinking  soberly  and  seriously.  One 
word  from  young  George  sufficed  to 
show  her  where  Mr.  Atkins'  thoughts 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL  169 


were  tending;  and  you  and  I  shall  be  the 
last  to  accuse  her  of  sentimentalism  if 
she  uttered  an  earnest  prayer  for  the  fu- 
ture welfare  of  her  home. 

The  change  from  black  to  white,  from 
Publican  to  Pharisee  would  have  been  as 
nought  compared  to  the  change  that  oc- 
curred in  the  Atkins  family  that  week. 
During  the  following  days,  not  a  word 
of  profanity  was  heard.  No  inebriate's 
liquor  desecrated  the  doorway.  On  Sun- 
day Mr.  Atkins  accosted  his  better  half, 
and  in  a  manner  that  precluded  any 
argument,  said: 

"Well,  oP  woman,  we're  goin'  to  git 
those  chillen  cleaned  up  an'  take  yo'uns 
all  to  Sunday  School.  I  like  them  thar 
folks.  They've  been  trying  mighty  hard 
to  teach  us  wot's  good  and  right." 


160  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

Rome  wasn't  built  in  a  day;  and  Mr. 
Atkins'  turn  of  heart  was  not  to  be  ef- 
fected in  a  week.  Although  he  gave  the 
entire  mountainside  food  for  century  of 
gossip  by  leading  his  whole  family  to 
Sunday  service,  he  refused  to  enter  the 
building  himself.  After  service  he  took 
his  flock  back  home  and  instead  of  pass- 
ing away  the  twenty-four  hours  of  Sun- 
day in  drinking  and  quarreling  with  his 
neighbors,  as  had  been  his  custom,  he  re- 
mained wrapped  in  sober  thought.  Once 
or  twice  he  actually  helped  Mrs.  Atkins 
with  a  bucket  of  water.  It  was  strange. 
It  was  uncanny.  One  or  two  of  the 
neighbors  who  dropped  in  asked  if  any- 
one were  sick. 

As  gossip  is  the  only  known  kind  of 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL  1«1 

perpetual  motion,  it  came  to  Roy's  ears 
soon  enough  that  Mr.  Atkins'  reforma- 
tion, as  far  as  it  had  progressed,  was 
sincere,  and  not  merely  an  endeavor  to 
win  sympathy.  But  the  trouble  was  that 
the  progress  had  to  be  slow.  The  moun- 
taineer's ready  susceptibility  had  made 
him  an  easy  prey  to  any  religious  formu- 
las. Mr.  Atkins  having  accepted  several 
of  these  in  the  past  only  to  find  them  one 
by  one  illusions,  had  gradually  come 
down  to  having  no  religion  at  all.  He 
was  now  trying  to  discriminate  in  his 
own  mind  just  what  part  of  all  that  had 
been  told  him  was  true,  and  what  part 
was  exaggeration.  As  his  mind  was  a 
slow  working  machine  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  hurry,  several  months  passed 

before  the  change  really  came. 
11 


162  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

Just  by  what  process  of  reasoning  he 
reached  the  final  stage  that  induced  him 
to  seek  spiritual  comfort  was  unknown; 
but  about  four  months  after  Roy  had 
first  met  George  Washington  Atkins,  Mr. 
Atkins  came  up  to  the  Father  at  the 
rectory  and  asked: 

"How  can  I  long  to  your  church?" 

He  was  told  that  he  must  be  baptized. 

True  to  his  literal  training  of  the 
mountains,  Mr.  Atkins  then  asked  what 
the  Bible  had  to  say  on  the  subject.  The 
Father  read  aloud : 

"Except  ye  be  born  of  water  and  the 
spirit  ye  cannot  enter  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven." 

Mr.  Atkins  stood  there  hatless  and 
collarless,  slowly  nodding  his  head. 

"That's  just  what  I  have  been  looking 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL  1«3 

for."  Then  in  a  sudden  burst  of  confi- 
dence he  added:  "Yuh  know,  I  hain't  got 
no  eddication.  I  can't  read,  an'  them 
folks  roun'  here,  they  don't  know  any 
more'n  I  do;  but  I  reckon  that's  right." 
"What's  it  say  further  on?" 

The  Father  read  the  whole  story  of  the 
Lord  talking  to  the  young  man  who 
wanted  to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

"Well,"  Mr.  Atkins  said  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  reading,  "I  have  been  thinkin' 
of  jinin'  this  here  church  fer  some  time. 
Do  you  think  you  kin  take  me?" 

"Yes,"  answered  the  Father,  "our 
Lord  came  to  save  you.  He  loves  you. 
He  gave  himself  for  you."  Then  he  un- 
folded the  story  of  the  Cross  and  how 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  deserted  by  his 


1«4  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

friends,  was  nailed  to  the  tree,  and  how 
He  died  there  to  save  mankind. 

There  were  real  tears  in  Mr.  Atkins' 
eyes,  as  he  said:  "I  never  knowed  it  be- 
fore. Yuh  know,  we'uns  ain't  never  had 
no  chance  in  this  country  to  read  the 
good  Book  like  yo'uns." 

So  the  Father  read  on  and  on,  talk- 
ing to  his  listener  luminously  and  pre- 
paring him  for  baptism. 

It  was  only  a  matter  of  a  week  or 
more  until  Mr.  Atkins  became  a  member 
of  Christ,  a  child  of  God  and  an  inheri- 
tor of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Not  only 
did  he  come  to  be  baptized,  but  he 
brought  his  entire  family  with  him.  The 
proof  of  service  lies  in  intention  and  ex- 
ecution, and  the  mountaineer  had  dem- 
onstrated conclusively  that  there  was  a 


ROY'S  BOYS'  SCHOOL  165 

demand  for  spiritual  aid  and  for  civili- 
zation, if  it  would  only  be  supplied  in  an 
intelligible  manner. 

The  Father  had  taken  the  work  up 
with  many  doubts.  He  had  almost  ques- 
tioned the  advisability  of  having  the  mis- 
sion church  there;  but  his  experience 
with  the  Atkins  family  was  a  revelation. 

"Start  working  on  that  place  for  the 
boys'  school  at  once,"  he  told  Roy,  "my 
order  will  undertake  its  share." 

So  the  property  was  bought  and  the 
teachers  secured,  and  Roy  at  once  set 
himself  to  the  task  of  securing  money  to 
build  a  dormitory  and  a  house  for  the 
Fathers  to  live  in.  Encouraged  by  his 
former  efforts,  Roy  again  started  on  his 
rounds.  With  very  little  difficulty  he 
secured  the  necessary  funds  and  return- 


166  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

ed  to  the  mountains.  He  gathered  a 
crew  of  men  and  started  immediately  to 
the  work  of  building.  He  was  time- 
keeper, boss  and  pay-master,  and  oc- 
casionally actually  took  the  place  of  a 
laborer.  The  place  had  to  be  ready  by 
the  first  of  October  and  to  accomplish 
this  no  time  must  be  spared.  He  worked 
at  high  speed.  At  night  he  labored  over 
his  books  and  correspondence  and  by  day 
looked  after  the  building,  ordering  the 
material  and  seeing  it  placed,  stealing 
moments  here  and  there  to  drop  in  on 
his  parishioners. 

When  October  first  came  around 
everything  was  ready.  The  Fathers 
took  charge  at  once,  supervising  twenty- 
five  boys  who  had  been  gathered  by  Roy 
for  the  Winters  schooling. 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Roy  had  at  last  realized  his  dream. 
The  girls'  school  flourished,  and  the  boys' 
school  was  at  work,  preparing  the  bpys 
to  become  proper  winners  of  bread  for 
the  girls,  who  were  being  trained  along 
domestic  lines.  The  schools  were  within 
easy  reach  of  each  other  and  of  his  rec- 
tory. He  would  constantly  go  from  one 
to  the  other,  helping  the  authorities  of 
both  whenever  advisable.  He  made  the 
rounds  of  the  missions  which  were  also 
growing  up.  But  not  all  of  his  time  was 
taken  up  with  the  industrial  school  en- 
terprises. He  had  secured  several  mis- 
sion teachers  who  were  teaching  day 

167 


168  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

schools,  and  doing  general  mission  work. 
For  various  reasons,  chiefly  on  account 
of  the  limited  equipment,  all  the  children 
could  not  be  taken  into  the  industrial 
schools. 

While  all  were  doing  efficient  work 
and  the  popularity  of  the  work  rapidly 
growing,  Mrs.  Roy  realized  the  necessity 
of  having  a  trained  nurse  and  a  small 
hospital.  Mrs.  Roy  was  constantly  mov- 
ing among  the  sick.  She  was  interested 
in  the  schools  of  course,  as  she  was  in- 
terested in  everything  that  Roy  had  to 
do  with,  but  she  felt  the  necessity  of  a 
hospital  for  the  sick  and  afflicted.  Her 
mind  and  heart  were  set  on  the  hospital, 
and  she  never  lost  a  moment,  doing  what 
she  could  by  writing  letters  and  making 
suggestions  about  the  great  need. 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL  169 

Realizing  the  necessity  of  the  hospital 
himself  Roy  set  to  work  to  make  the  long 
dream  of  his  loved  one  a  reality.  By 
this  time  Roy  had  had  sufficient  experi- 
ence with  his  doctor  friend  in  visiting 
the  sick  mountaineers.  He  often  heard 
the  doctor  exclaim:  "If  I  only  had  some 
place  to  take  this  poor  little  child,  it 
would  have  some  chance  of  getting  well." 

One  day  Roy  was  talking  with  the  doc- 
tor, who  declared  that  much  trouble  with 
the  children  might  be  avoided  if  a  proper 
place  were  provided  for  the  mothers,  and 
that  a  great  many  of  the  mothers  might 
be  saved  if  given  prompt  and  proper 
treatment.  All  this  forced  Roy  to  the 
conclusion  that  there  must  be  a  hospital 
for  the  mountaineer. 

So  far  as  the  mountaineers  were  con- 


170  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

cerned  there  were  two  hospitals — one  90 
miles  away  and  the  other  85.  They 
might  as  well  have  been  in  Persia.  They 
could  neither  of  them  possibly  be  of  any 
service  to  the  mountaineer. 

Roy  first  secured  the  plans  and  got 
an  estimate  on  the  building.  He  and  his 
wife  now  became  absorbed  in  writing 
letters,  appealing  to  the  interest  of  their 
friends  in  this  new  undertaking.  It  was 
not  long  before  the  light  broke  and  suffi- 
cient response  was  made  for  the  begin- 
ning of  the  new  hospital.  The  money 
was  well  in  hand.  The  contract  was  let. 
Roy  and  Mrs.  Roy  watched  with  the 
greatest  eagerness  the  progress  of  the 
building,  At  last  it  was  complete  and 
ready  for  use.  The  doctor  was  full  of 
joy  and  pride,  and  the  patients  began  to 


.••  „•»,- 

&- 

--, 


.,  «•;       - 

V^>—       " 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL  171 

come.  But  it  was  a  puzzle  to  meet  all 
the  running  expenses  of  the  hospital,  for 
not  a  single  one  connected  with  it  had 
had  any  experience.  Economize  as  they 
would,  the  bills  would  pile  up  on  the 
superintendent's  desk. 

Roy  very  soon  discovered  that  money 
must  be  secured.  He  started  on  his  an- 
nual tramp,  visited  welcoming  and  un- 
welcoming hosts,  and  his  hide  thickened 
as  he  journeyed.  It  is  necessary  to  the 
success  of  a  solicitor  to  have  his  feelings 
and  temper  well  under  control.  Patron- 
izers  were  sometimes  met,  but  it  was 
Roy's  experience  to  encounter  few  of 
this  class.  It  was  hard  for  him  to  real- 
ize, however,  that  everyone  could  not  be 
as  much  interested  in  his  work  as  he 
himself  happened  to  be.  He  came  in  con- 


17»  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

tact  with  the  people  constantly,  realizing 
their  conditions,  and  was  naturally  more 
interested  than  the  folk  who  lived  a 
thousand  miles  off. 

While  he  was  traveling,  soliciting  aid, 
Mrs.  Roy  was  keeping  up  the  correspon- 
dence. She  visited  and  did  what  she 
could  for  the  missions  set  in  motion  by 
her  husband. 

Roy  returned  from  his  trip  with  what 
seemed  to  him  sufficient  money  to  con- 
tinue his  work  for  a  year,  and  started 
in  on  New  Year's  day  with  a  doctor,  to 
visit  some  sick  parishioners.  They  called 
first  on  Mr.  Brown,  a  veteran  of  the 
Mexican  and  Civil  Wars,  and  found  the 
old  man  in  bed  with  pneumonia,  and 
Mrs.  Brown  should  have  been  in  bed. 
The  doctor  looked  them  over  for  a  while, 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL  171 

making  out  what  was  to  be  done,  and 
Roy  chatted  with  Mrs.  Brown  who  was 
growing  a  bit  blue.  Finally  Roy  remark- 
ed: "Well  Mrs.  Brown  you  married  a 
Northern  soldier  first,  and  a  Southern 
soldier  second,  which  did  you  like  the 
best?"  Not  being  able  to  overcome  her 
Scotch  ancestry,  Mrs.  Brown  replied:  "I 
haint  never  married  a  bushwhacker.  If 
I  had,  Fd  a-quit  him."  Arranging  for 
the  medicine  and  the  nursing,  Roy  and 
the  doctor  started  on  a  twenty  mile  ride 
to  see  Bob. 

Bob  had  been  indulging  too  freely  in 
"Mountain  Dew."  He  had  not  been  in 
good  favor  with  one  of  his  neighbors, 
with  the  result  that  Bob's  head  was  bad- 
ly cut  up.  It  looked  as  if  some  one  had 
caught  him  and  made  as  many  flesh 


174  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

wounds  as  possible  without  killing  him. 
He  remarked  to  the  doctor  and  Roy 
when  they  entered  the  cabin:  "Me  and 
Lee  had  a  little  misunderstanding."  Of 
course,  Bob  put  all  the  blame  on  Lee, 
for  Bob  never  did  anything  wrong  in  his 
life.  People  who  always  do  things  right 
are  continually  in  trouble!  Roy  got 
some  water,  boiled  it  in  the  fire  place  and 
sterilized  things  as  much  as  he  could, 
and  assisted  the  doctor  in  patching  up 
Bob's  head  and  shoulders,  remarking  as 
he  patched:  "Do  you  think  you  will  put 
your  head  into  a  hornet's  nest  the  next 
time  you  drink  any  of  that  good  spring 
water?" 

Bob  replied:  "They  ought  not  to  allow 
anybody  to  make  whiskey."  "Its  not  the 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL  175 

whiskey,  Bob,"  the  doctor  remarked, 
"but  the  fool  that  mis-uses  it." 

The  job  was  completed  and  the  doctor 
and  Roy  started  on  for  another  long 
ride.  They  found  two  old  people  threat- 
ened with  what  was  thought  might  be 
smallpox.  Consequently  none  of  the 
neighbors  would  go  near  them.  The 
doctor  made  a  thorough  examination 
and  found  it  to  be  only  measles.  He 
gave  them  something  to  bring  the 
measles  out — which  was  a  hot  drink  of 
Roy's  mountain  dew,  which  resulted  in 
this  case  most  successfully.  The  doctor 
said  it  depended  altogether  on  who  takes 
the  mountain  dew,  and  for  what  purpose. 

Finishing  up  their  job  about  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  they  found  a  messenger 
at  the  door,  calling  the  doctor  ten  miles 


178  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

away  to  attend  a  woman.  But  before 
the  doctor  could  get  there  a  fine  twelve- 
pound  boy  had  appeared.  The  man  be- 
gan to  tease  the  doctor  saying:  "You  are 
too  late  Doc.  we've  been  thinking  of 
sending  the  baby  to  tell  you  about  it" 
"I  reckon  its  all  right,"  replied  the  doc- 
tor, "There's  been  enough  children  born 
in  this  house  for  somebody  to  know 
how."  Roy  chipped  in  "This  is  the  eigh- 
teenth. 

Roy  and  the  doctor  crawled  into  the 
cleanest  place  they  could  find,  in  the  cor- 
ner of  the  room,  for  a  little  snooze.  They 
breakfasted  at  five  o'clock  and  returned 
to  the  hospital 

Roy  had  not  been  at  the  hospital  very 
long  before  a  message  came  that  Jack 
was  away  off  on  the  side  of  the  mountain 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL  177 

with  his  leg  broken.  Starting  off  with  a 
couple  of  men,  the  party  had  a  seven 
hours  tramp,  and  when  they  reached 
Jack  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  it  was 
found  that  he  had  a  compound  fracture, 
and  the  bone  of  the  leg  had  penetrated 
his  clothing.  As  a  consequence,  the 
wound  was  frightfully  filthy.  His  leg 
was  as  black  as  a  crow,  for  the  accident 
had  occurred  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, but  the  patient  had  a  great  deal  of 
strength  left.  Though  Roy  had  had  a 
good  deal  of  experience,  the  majority  of 
things  he  did  for  Jack's  leg  were  wrong. 
Securing  a  small  rope  Roy  tied  his  leg  up 
so  it  would  not  drag,  and  he  and  his 
friend  acting  as  crutches,  carried  the 
man  a  mile  and  a  half  up  the  mountain 
to  the  top,  reaching  there  about  one 

18 


178  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

o'clock  the  next  morning.  A  wagon  met 
them  and  after  a  sixteen  mile  drive  they 
reached  the  hospital  with  Jack  still  alive. 
The  doctor  made  an  examination  and 
finding  that  he  had  to  contend  with 
blood  poisoning  said:  "It  is  doubtful 
whether  I  can  save  his  life,  but  I  am  go- 
ing to  make  a  desperate  effort  to  save  it 
and  his  leg  too."  Cleaning,  scraping  and 
cutting,  he  finally  dressed  the  leg  with 
the  drainage  to  carry  off  impurities. 
The  doctor  watched  him  through  the  day 
and  night  himself.  Late  in  the  after- 
noon of  the  third  day  Jack  began  to  im- 
prove. Though  he  had  had  a  hard  fight 
the  doctor  and  Jack  by  the  help  of  God 
had  succeeded. 

Mrs.  Roy  was  very  much  worked  up 
over  Jack's  case.    She  knew  Jack's  wife 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL  179 

and  five  little  children,  all  of  whom 
were  absolutely  dependent  upon  him  for 
a  living.  Jack  continued  to  improve  and 
finally  when  he  was  discharged  from  the 
hospital,  Mrs.  Roy  exclaimed  to  her  hus- 
band: "Dear,  I  am  so  glad  we  had  a 
hospital  to  put  Jack  in.  He  could  never 
have  gotten  well  out  in  the  woods  or  in 
his  log  hut." 

Roy  and  the  doctor  were  not  the  only 
ones  who  had  experiences.  The  nurses 
came  in  for  their  share,  especially  those 
in  training,  for  out  of  the  hospital  Roy 
and  the  Doctor  developed  a  training 
school  for  nurses.  Roy  was  making  his 
rounds  of  the  hospital  one  morning,  and 
the  Head  Nurse  asked  him  to  go  in  and 
call  on  Bill,  who  had  been  talking  to  her 
all  night  about  dying. 


180  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

Roy  entered  the  room,  and  Bill  started 
to  talk:  ''Well  my  brother,  I  suppose  they 
brought  me  here  to  die,  and  I  haint  got 
long  to  live,  and  I  want  to  tell  you  how 
good  these  women  are.  Everything  I 
want  they  just  seem  to  know.  That 
woman  over  thar  washed  my  face  and 
combed  my  hair  this  morning."  Roy 
thought  it  was  an  unusual  occurrence, 
as  Bill  didn't  often  comb  his  hair,  except 
on  Sundays  when  he  went  to  "meetings." 

In  order  to  get  Bill's  mind  away  from 
his  troubles,  Roy  laughed  and  talked 
with  him  about  the  saw  mill  which  Bill 
owned  in  the  cove.  Then  Bill  told  Roy 
all  about  his  business  affairs,  how  he 
bought  and  sold  timber,  and  the  men  he 
liked  to  deal  with.  Roy  could  easily  see 
his  preference  of  the  lumbermen  in  the 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL  181 

mountains.  But  it  was  hard  for  Bill 
to  talk  about  his  wife  and  children  with- 
out thinking  of  his  own  sickness,  so  Roy 
had  to  steer  the  conversation  away  from 
the  wife  and  children. 

Religion  was  an  interesting  subject  to 
Bill,  and  would  have  good  effect  if  it  was 
presented  in  the  right  way.  Much  to 
Bill's  surprise,  Roy  left  the  room  without 
praying  or  talking  to  him  about  dying. 
After  Roy  left,  Bill  called  the  nurse  to 
him  and  said:  "That's  the  best  preacher 
I  ever  seen.  I  want  to  see  him  again.  I 
don't  like  these  preachers  who  always 
talk  about  dying,  and  put  on  a  long  face 
like  they  had  stole  a  sheep,  or  had  eaten 
too  much  green  fruit." 

"That's  our  parson,"  replied  the  nurse, 
"He  belongs  to  us."  "And  he  belongs  to 


182  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

me  too,"  declared  Bill.  The  nurse  then 
gave  him  a  good  sponge  bath  with  alco- 
hol, and  Bill  said:  "Don't  let  that  bottle 
come  too  nigh  my  mouth,  because  every 
time  I  smell  it,  my  mouth  flies  open,  and 
this  ain't  no  time  to  tempt  a  fellow." 

Only  a  few  weeks  passed  and  Bill  was 
well  again.  When  he  left  the  hospital 
he  said  to  the  doctor:  "I  ain't  got  no 
money  to  pay  you  uns,  the  only  thing  I 
really  got  is  this  hoss,  and  I  see  you 
ain't  got  no  hoss,  but  I  could  not  get 
another  life  and  you  saved  the  one  I 
had."  So  Bill  walked  off  and  left  the 
horse  tied,  and  the  doctor  was  obliged 
to  take  it.  At  supper  that  night  the  doc- 
tor told  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roy  his  experience 
with  Bill,  and  how  Bill  walked  off  with- 
out the  horse.  The  doctor  could  not  keep 


ROY'S  HOSPITAL  188 

back  the  tears  as  he  spoke  of  Bill's  sim- 
ple gratitude,  and  the  doctor  was  by  no 
means  a  sentimentalist. 

Some  weeks  later,  Bill  rode  into  the 
hospital  grounds  with  a  big  basket  of 
fruit  and  a  lot  of  mountain  flowers, 
which  he  said  his  wife  had  sent  to  "Them 
good  ladies  what  looked  after  him." 

While  Bill  was  chatting  with  the  doc- 
tor, Roy  having  completed  his  round  of 
calls,  entered  the  doctor's  office  without 
recognizing  Bill. 

"Doc,  you've  got  one  of  the  greenest 
men  in  the  ward  up  there,  ever  seen  in 
this  hospital.  He's  just  about  as  green 
as  that  fellow  Bill  you  had  here  awhile 
ago."  Just  then  Bill  turning  around,  re- 
marked: "I'm  that  man,"  and  both  had  a 
good  hearty  laugh.  "I  knowed  nothing 


184  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

about  a  hospital,"  declared  Bill,  "and 
thought  folks  were  only  taken  there  to 
die  easy.  You  uns  got  the  best  lot  of 
women  there  I  ever  see'd.  Why  they 
just  do  everything  for  you,  and  a  fellow 
hates  to  leave,  and  he  never  wants  to  die, 
don't  care  how  sick  he  is.  Nothing 
would  please  me  better  than  to  have  my 
gal  go  through  that  school  you  got  out 
thar  in  the  mountains,  then  put  her  in 
here  and  finish  her  up  like  one  of  these 
ladies  you  got  in  here.  We  folks  in  the 
mountains  sure  need  it." 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL 

CHAPTER  IX. 

While  Roy,  Mrs.  Roy  and  the  doctor 
went  to  and  fro  among  the  mountain 
folk,  studying  their  condition,  carefully, 
with  a  mind  ever  open  to  conviction  as 
to  the  next  thing  needed,  their  attention 
was  gradually  directed  to  a  school  of 
some  kind  for  grown-ups. 

In  an  electrical  age  like  the  present, 
the  American  people  cannot  afford  to 
wait  for  a  generation  to  die  hoping  to 
educate  the  young.  Roy  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  easier  to  develop 
the  whole  of  society  together.  As  soon 
as  the  parent  realized  what  he  was  mis- 
sing and  is  missing,  he  would  be  more 

189 


186  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

eager  to  have  his  children  taught. 
While  illiteracy  in  certain  parts  of  the 
country  is  a  condition  of  mind,  in  the 
mountains  it  is  sheer  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity. 

One  day  as  Roy  and  Mrs.  Roy  were 
visiting  Uncle  Ned,  the  old  man  who  had 
been  taught  to  read  and  write  after  he 
was  thirty-five  years  old,  the  latter  turn- 
ed to  Roy  and  asked:  "Do  you  know 
what  made  me  jine  your  church?"  "No," 
replied  Roy.  "Well,"  said  Uncle  Ned, 
"Mr.  M.  our  mission  teacher,  taught  me 
how  to  read,  and  I  was  a-reading  St. 
John  one  day,  and  I  read  the  sixth  chap- 
ter but  it  had  no  meaning  for  me.  I 
read  it  over  and  over  for  seven  years, 
and  couldn't  get  a  bit  of  sense  out  of  it. 
I  then  went  to  my  preacher,  who  didn't 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL  187 

know  no  more'n  I  did,  an'  he  mixed  me 
up  worse'n  I  was  at  first.  One  day  I 
went  up  to  uns  chapel  and  heard  Mr.  G. 
celebrate  the  Holy  Communion.  I  don't 
know  what  he  said  in  that  sermon,  but 
one  thing  I'll  never  forget,  sir.  When 
the  people  went  up  to  Communion,  I 
heard  Mr.  G.  say:  "The  blood  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  which  was  shed  for 
you,  preserve  your  body  and  soul  unto 
everlasting  life."  "For  the  first  time  sir, 
I  saw  what  was  meant  in  St.  John's  Gos- 
pel, for  there  our  Lord  gives  me  an 
order.  He  says:  'Except  ye  eat  my  flesh 
and  drink  my  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in 
ye.'  And  if  our  Lord  gives  such  an  order 
as  that,  He  must  give  us  a  place  to  go 
and  get  it,  for  he  wouldn't  order  me  to 
do  a  thing  without  providing  a  place 


188  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

somewhere  for  me  to  go  and  do  it.  I 
went  home,  sir,  and  the  old  woman  was 
getting  dinner.  I  took  the  book  sir,  and 
read  that  chapter  and  told  her  what  I 
heard  Mr.  G.  say,  and  I  said  to  her:  Tm 
going  to  be  confirmed,  and  I  want  you 
to  be  confirmed  too.' ' 

Some  time  after  this,  Roy  and  Mrs. 
Roy  were  calling  on  Uncle  Dick.  After 
dinner,  sitting  out  on  the  porch,  Uncle 
Dick  began  to  talk  about  the  church, 
saying:  "I  don't  see  why  these  folks  can't 
all  see  it."  "What's  that?"  asked  Roy 
of  Uncle  Dick.  "Why  Confirmation  sir." 
Then  Uncle  Dick  started:  "Why,  I  read 
sir,  in  the  Bible  that  the  first  thing  the 
Apostles  did  after  they  had  received 
power  from  on  High,  was  to  send  St. 
John  and  St.  Peter  down  to  Samaria  to 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL  189 

lay  hands  on  them  what  had  been  bap- 
tized. Now,  if  Confirmation  wasn't 
necessary,  why  did  St.  John  and  St. 
Peter  take  that  long  trip,  and  waste  so 
much  time?  They  wouldn't  do  foolish 
things,  would  they?  That  shows  Con- 
firmation was  necessary  for  the  Samari- 
tans, and  if  it  was  necessary  for  the 
Samaritans,  it  is  just  as  necessary  for 
us.  And  those  folks  that  ain't  confirmed 
are  short  that  much  of  spiritual  life?" 

Leaving  Uncle  Dick,  Roy  and  his  wife 
called  by  to  see  Uncle  Watt.  They  found 
Uncle  Watt  in  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 
His  son-in-law  and  daughter  had  had  a 
row,  and  as  Uncle  Watt  expressed  it: 
"The  gal  done  come  home."  This  in- 
terested Mrs.  Roy  very  much,  and  she 
exclaimed  "0  Uncle  Watt,  I  hope  you  can 


190  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

get  them  together  again.  Its  awful  on 
the  children  and  the  whole  community 
to  have  people  separated  this  way.  I  do 
hope  they  won't  get  a  divorce."  The  old 
man  straightened  up  and  said:  "My 
church  don't  believe  in  that  kind  of 
business  ma'am.  When  that  gal  went  up 
and  was  married  to  Ike,  she  said  for  bet- 
ter or  for  worse,  for  richer  of  for  poorer, 
till  death  us  do  part,'  and  nary  one  of 
them  ain't  dead  yet.  That  was  a  promise 
they  made  to  God,  and  I  ain't  goin'  to 
have  my  chil'en  breaking  their  promise 
that  way." 

After  they  had  talked  with  Uncle 
Watt  a  little  while  the  girl  came  in.  Mrs. 
Roy  and  Roy  heard  the  whole  story  and 
nothing  would  do  but  that  Roy  should 
go  and  see  Ike,  which  he  was  very  glad 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL  191 

to  do.  By  this  time,  Ike  had  cooled  off 
and  was  very  penitent,  ready  to  do  any- 
thing to  get  his  wife  to  come  back  to 
him.  Before  the  day  was  over,  the  row 
was  adjusted,  and  the  two  people  were  at 
home  with  their  little  children  happy 
once  more.  Uncle  Watt  seemed  to  enjoy 
it  the  greater.  Roy  and  his  wife,  re- 
turning home,  were  forced  to  discuss  the 
mountain  characters,  wondering  what 
could  be  done  for  the  adult. 

Roy's  wife  after  supper,  turned  to  Roy 
and  said :  "Surely  these  people  are  worth 
while,  and  you  can  do  something  for 
them,  if  only  a  night  school  or  a  reading 
room."  Then  both  realized  that  a  read- 
ing room  would  be  useless,  as  very  few 
of  them  could  read,  and  a  night  school 
was  a  colossal  undertaking.  It  would 


198  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

require  so  many  teachers,  and  a  great 
amount  of  money.  Where  on  earth 
could  they  get  it?  Roy  thought  over  the 
problem.  He  read  everything  he  could 
get  on  the  subject  of  education.  He 
came  across  the  Scandinavian  school  for 
adults.  He  got  all  the  literature  he 
could  find  on  the  folk  high  school,  which 
appealed  to  him  as  the  thing  necessary 
for  the  mountain  folk.  These  schools 
took  people  from  eighteen  to  forty  years 
of  age  and  brought  out  their  latent 
forces.  Such  a  school  seemed  to  supply 
what  was  lacking  in  the  American  sys- 
tem of  education  for  the  mountaineer. 
The  mountaineer  at  eighteen  was  too 
far  developed  for  preparatory  schooling. 
He  was  not  prepared  for  the  American 
college  or  university,  for  Roy  had  tried 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL  193 

both  and  failed.  So  Roy  discussed  it 
with  his  wife  and  said:  "To  complete 
our  system  and  do  the  most  efficient 
work  it  seems  necessary  to  establish  in 
these  mountains,  a  school  for  the  grown- 
ups." So,  they  set  to  work  to  find  out  all 
they  could  about  the  grown-up  school, 
and  to  secure  a  teacher,  but  it  was  no 
easy  matter.  The  experiment  had  never 
been  tried  in  America  among  this  class 
of  people,  and  naturally  there  were  no 
teachers.  To  import  a  teacher  was  a 
tremendous  undertaking,  but  Roy's  mind 
and  heart  were  set  on  the  project, 
and  he  want  to  work.  With  the  same 
faith  and  courage  that  had  given  him 
success  with  former  undertakings,  he 
was  helped  over  the  difficulty.  Roy  soon 
discovered  there  was  a  man  in  America 

18 


194  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

who  was  acquainted  with  the  adult 
school,  and  at  once  he  got  into  corres- 
pondence with  him  and  interested  him  in 
the  project.  While  Roy's  new  friend  was 
loath  to  give  up  the  position  he  had  for 
one  that  was  uncertain  and  experi- 
mental, Roy  persisted  and  his  friend 
finally  yielded.  The  adult  school  was 
certainly  an  experiment  and  something 
new  in  the  American  idea  of  education, 
and  the  colossal  undertaking  must  now 
be  to  educate  the  people  of  wealth  to  this 
new  idea. 

Roy  began  to  write  letters,  and  as 
usual  received  many  kind  suggestions  in 
return.  One  suggested  that  they  attend 
a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  night  school.  In  the  first 
place,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  not  adapted  to 
their  needs.  In  the  second  place  the 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL  195 

nearest  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  about  a  hundred 
miles  away,  a  little  hard  to  walk  to  after 
a  strenuous  day's  work.  Another  bril- 
liant suggestion  was  that  the  state 
should  be  forced  to  do  it.  Roy  not  being 
a  politician  did  not  see  exactly  how  he 
could  get  another  law  on  the  statute 
books,  the  statute  already  being  very 
very  large  and  cumbersome  with  laws 
that  are  worse  than  useless.  Another 
attacked  the  church  for  not  doing  it 
The  church  was  willing  and  ready  to  act 
if  some  of  her  critics  only  had  religion 
and  sense  enough  to  help  her.  One 
easily  finds  an  excuse  when  he  himself 
is  unwilling  to  act.  Critics  are  plentiful, 
and  Roy  felt  as  Byron  did : 

"A  man  must  serve  a  time  at  every 
trade,  Save  censure :  critics,  all  are  ready 
made." 


1»«  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

While  these  things  were  amusing  and 
caused  a  good  many  laughs  in  Roy's 
home,  he  still  persisted,  apparently  beat- 
ing his  head  against  a  stone  wall.  But 
Roy's  head  was  hard.  He  was  content 
to  butt  away  at  the  wall,  remembering 
that  walls  had  fallen  before.  Little  by 
little  he  got  a  hearing  with  a  casual  re- 
mark: "What  a  splendid  idea."  Splendid 
ideas  and  flattery  never  put  brick  and 
mortar  together.  The  labor  unions  must 
have  eight  hours  work  and  their  scale  of 
wages,  or  they  decline  to  work  for  God 
or  man.  So  Roy  must  do  better  than 
get  suggestions  or  praise.  The  latter 
had  but  little  effect  on  Roy's  mind. 

By  a  lucky  chance  Roy  bought  a  piece 
of  property,  an  ideal  place  for  a  school. 
After  all  the  heirs  of  the  property  were 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL 


satisfied  and  the  deed  secured,  Roy 
started  out  as  before  with  his  bull-dog 
determination  to  get  the  money.  Speak- 
ing, talking,  writing  and  dreaming  by 
night  about  his  school,  finally  he  got  the 
ear  of  some  sympathetic  people.  They 
were  not  only  burdened  with  millions  but 
burdened  with  a  conscience  on  behalf  of 
their  less  fortunate  fellows.  They  told 
Roy  to  go  ahead,  see  what  he  could  do, 
and  report  to  them.  Roy  struggled  and 
struggled  with  little  success.  At  last  he 
got  the  means  for  the  first  small  build- 
ing, and  the  salary  of  a  teacher  for  one 
year.  He  returned  to  his  work  in  the 
mountains,  put  up  the  building  and 
started  the  teacher  to  work  on  six  men 
as  the  first  students  of  the  school.  Little 
by  little  Roy  and  his  teacher  struggled 


198  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

and  at  times  the  clouds  hung  heavy  un- 
til they  began  to  attract  the  attention 
and  the  conscience  of  men  was  awak- 
ened and  relief  came. 

Roy  and  his  wife  could  now  move 
about  and  watch  the  progress  of  the 
community  he  had  created  in  the  moun- 
tains. He  could  see  the  children  in  the 
boys  and  girls'  day  school,  the  sick  and 
afflicted  in  the  hospital  with  the  doctors 
and  nurses  battling  with  their  diseases, 
nurses  being  developed,  homes  changing 
and  brightening  in  the  mountains.  In- 
stead of  a  patent  medicine  picture  sign 
on  the  wall,  there  was  the  picture  of 
some  artist,  always  a  picture  of  our 
Lord,  or  some  prophet  or  apostle.  The 
literature  of  the  mountain  was  changing 
from  the  county  newspaper  or  patent 
medicine  advertisement  to  books  and 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL  199 

worthy  magazines.  There  was  a  good 
farming  paper  always  to  be  seen.  An 
old  man  remarked  one  day:  "I  wish  I 
had  my  life  to  go  over  again.  There  are 
so  many  modern  improvements  and  so 
much  better  literature,  that  I  feel  like  I 
could  do  so  much  more." 

One  day  the  old  man  came  into  Roy's 
library,  picked  up  Drummond's  "Natural 
Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,"  and  asked 
if  he  might  read  it,  Roy  said:  "Why 
certainly."  It  took  the  old  man  some 
time  to  read  it.  On  returning  it  Mrs. 
Roy  asked  what  he  thought  of  it.  To 
this  the  old  man  replied:  "I  hain't  got  no 
education  and  can't  criticize  the  book," 
but,  Mrs.  Roy  said:  "What  do  you  think 
of  it?" 

"Well,  ma'am,  I  don't  think  there  is 


300  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

enough  spirit  in  the  book."  And  this 
was  identically  the  same  criticism  that 
has  been  given  by  many  of  the  best 
critics.  Drummond's  "Natural  Law  in 
the  Spiritual  World"  is  quite  an  improve- 
ment over  the  patent-medicine  almanac, 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roy  were  happy  to 
know  that  the  adult  school  was  causing 
this  change  in  literature. 

The  vote  was  soon  to  be  taken  as  to 
whether  the  county  should  have  good 
roads  or  not.  In  Roy's  mountain  com- 
munity, ten  years  previous  only  three 
votes  had  been  cast  for  good  roads,  and 
they  were  cast  by  Roy,  the  doctor  and 
one  of  Roy's  helpers.  It  was  interesting 
to  await  the  results  of  the  present  elec- 
tion. When  the  votes  were  counted,  it 
was  found  that  a  large  majority  had 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL  Ml 

voted  for  good  roads.  One  old  man  who 
opposed  it  said  he  did  it  on  the  ground 
that  his  property  would  increase  in 
value,  therefore,  increase  his  taxes.  Roy 
repeated  the  story  to  one  of  the  men  who 
had  been  in  the  adult  school,  the  adult 
school  man  replied:  "He  ain't  got  no 
more  sense  than  a  donkey.  Can't  a  man 
haul  four  times  as  much  on  good  roads 
as  on  bad?  And  wont  the  saving  of  his 
team  more  than  pay  for  the  extra  tax?" 

While  Roy  and  his  wife  were  return- 
ing from  one  of  the  mission  stations  late 
in  the  afternoon,  there  was  a  gorgeous 
sunset.  He  was  thinking  of  Mrs.  Brown- 
ing's poem  on  "Nature,"  and  quoted 
these  few  lines: 

"While  earth  is  crammed  with  heaven 


202  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

and  every  common  bush  afire  with  God, 
only  he  who  sees  takes  off  his  shoes." 

Mrs.  Roy  said:  "If  only  people  would 
see."  "We  must  not  be  impatient,"  he 
replied.  While  it  is  true  that  the  high- 
landers  are  of  the  purest  Anglo-Saxon 
blood  there  is  in  America,  they  have  been 
forced  to  carve  out  their  fortune  or  mis- 
fortune in  seclusion.  The  highlander 
has  always  responded  to  the  call  of  the 
country  to  defend  the  flag,  furnishing 
more  troops  in  proportion  than  any 
other  section  of  the  country.  Roy  con- 
tinued and  grew  more  eloquent,  and 
stated  that  at  King's  Mountain  when 
Ferguson  and  his  redcoats  were  defeat- 
ed, the  highlanders  bore  the  brunt  of  the 
battle  and  checked  the  Briton's  march. 
Again,  when  under  Cambridge  elms, 


ROY'S  ADULT  SCHOOL  »03 

Washington  took  charge  of  the  army  of 
America,  he  commanded  the  men  who 
marched  in  twenty-one  days  from  the 
Smokey  Mountains  in  North  Carolina. 
And  don't  you  remember  what  Mr. 
Roosevelt  said  about  the  mountaineers 
in  his  "Winning  of  the  West."  "So,  my 
dear,  the  nation  owes  the  highlander  a 
debt  of  gratitude  that  can  never  be  re- 
paid." 

Mrs.  Roy  replied:  "And  isn't  it  a 
shame  how  their  land  is  being  taken 
away  from  them  for  a  mere  song  by 
wealthy  corporations,  because  they  are 
ignorant  of  its  value  and  unable  to 
develop  it?" 

"Yes,"  said  Roy,  "I've  seen  thousands 
of  acres  of  land  sold  for  thirty-five 
cents  an  acre,  and  people  of  moderate 


204  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

means  representing  these  corporations 
suddenly  become  worth  millions.  Such 
is  life.  But  our  duty  is  to  educate  the 
people  to  develop  their  own  resources 
and  withstand  the  trickery  of  these 
mountain  promoters." 


ROY'S  HONORS 

CHAPTER  X. 

Roy  had  now  completed  a  system  of 
education,  unequalled  in  America,  among 
a  people  that  had  been  neglected  for 
years.  Roy  and  Mrs.  Roy  became  ex- 
ceedingly popular.  Recognition  was 
slow,  but  when  it  did  come  at  last,  it 
came  all  at  once  and  from  everywhere. 
They  were  sought  after  for  addresses 
and  stories.  Mrs.  Roy  was  very  apt  in 
writing  while  her  now  famous  husband 
did  the  platform  work.  Universities 
and  colleges  for  both  men  and  women 
continually  sought  Roy's  services  as  lec- 
turer on  the  mountaineer. 

It  seemed    to    the    Roys    that    every 

205 


808  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

Philanthropic  and  Missionary  society  in 
the  country  had  gotten  their  names,  for 
streams  of  requests  began  to  pour  in  for 
lectures  or  papers  from  Philanthropic 
clubs,  eager  to  interest  their  followers 
in  the  work  of  the  country,  and  from 
Missionary  societies,  jealous  of  the  work 
being  done,  came  representatives  seeking 
out  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roy  as  the  heroes  of 
the  mountains,  and  pictured  them  as 
Moses  and  Miriam  sent  to  lead  into  the 
promised  land  these  children  of  the 
mountains. 

Roy's  community  of  illiterates  had 
been  reformed  and  a  light,  however 
small,  cannot  be  hid.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roy 
unaware  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work 
they  had  been  engaged  in,  so  far  as  the 
public  eye  was  concerned,  were  surprised 


ROY'S  HONORS  207 

and  glad  when  an  opportunity  presented 
itself  for  them  to  make  known  to  out- 
siders the  highlander  and  his  conditions. 
While  Roy  for  years  had  been  working 
quietly  among  the  mountaineers,  there 
was  beginning  to  be  a  continuous  flow 
of  mountain  fiction  from  the  pens  of 
the  country's  best  novelists.  What 
these  writers  had  seen  in  their  literary 
imagination,  he  had  seen  with  the  eye 
of  trained  experience.  Surely  no  one 
could  have  been  better  qualified  to  pass 
judgment  on  the  merits  of  these  noted 
books.  In  more  than  one  instance,  Roy 
had  been  consulted  by  them  on  certain 
points  that  had  perplexed  them.  Fre- 
quently the  Roys  received  polite  invita- 
tion to  spend  week-ends  at  house  parties 
given  by  celebrated  novelists.  At  these 


208  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

affairs,  Roy  was  often  urged  to  tell 
tales  of  his  experiences  in  the  moun- 
tains and  later  was  surprised  to  find 
many  of  these  experiences  artfully  work- 
ed out  in  the  novels  of  his  hosts. 

An  interesting  story  told  by  Roy  was 
of  a  wedding  he  once  solemnized.  About 
a  year  after  Roy  had  married  Medora, 
there  came  a  tap  at  the  door  at  about 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Medora 
waking  first,  called  Roy  and  said :  "Some 
one  is  knocking."  Roy  about  three- 
fourths  asleep  remarked:  "Let  him  knock 
again."  By  that  time  the  party  seemed 
to  become  very  anxious  for  it  looked  as 
if  they  were  about  to  break  the  door 
down  with  their  vigorous  thumping.  At 
last  Roy  put  his  head  out  of  the  window 
and  asked:  "What  do  you  want?" 


ROY'S  HONORS  209 

"Abe  wants  to  get  married." 

"Well,  what  are  you  getting  married 
this  time  of  night  for?" 

"Can't  tell  you  sir,  come  down." 

"Who's  Abe  to  marry?"  asked  Roy. 

"Fanny,  sir,  she's  all  right.  She  haint 
never  been  married  before,  sir  and  you 
know  Abe."  Roy  knew  both  of  them 
very  well.  So  he  dressed  hastily  and 
went  into  his  study.  Medora  following, 
expecting  to  be  a  witness  in  case  no  one 
else  would  be  there.  To  his  surprise  Roy 
found  his  study  filled  with  people  who 
had  walked  eight  miles  up  the  side  of 
the  mountain.  The  house  was  not  lock- 
ed, and  they  could  easily  get  in,  for  no 
one  thinks  of  locking  a  house  in  this  part 
of  the  country.  Roy  was  ready  to 
"marry"  them.  Abe  and  Fanny  came 

14 


810  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

forward  with  the  explanation  that  Abe 
had  gone  to  the  clerk's  office  and  fooled 
away  the  whole  day  in  getting  his 
license.  Abe  had  promised  to  be  at  work 
next  morning,  and  Abe  couldn't  break 
his  promise,  so  Roy  proceeded  to  marry 
them.  After  they  had  been  pronounced 
man  and  wife,  Abe  asked  "How  much 
do  I  owe  you?"  "Nothing;  go  on  home," 
answered  Roy. 

"But,  I  don't  like  to  get  a  man  up  this 
time  of  night  and  not  pay  him  any- 
thing," Abe  persisted. 

"Now,  look  here,"  said  Roy,  "don't  get 
me  up  this  time  of  night  and  then  keep 
me  up  discussing  this  matter." 

In  the  party  was  a  young  man  of 
twenty  who  broke  into  the  conversation, 
"Abe,  I  most  generally  pays  twenty-five 


ROY'S  HONORS  211 


and  fifty  cents."  Though  the  young  man 
himself  had  never  been  married,  he  had 
taken  the  part  of  best  man  on  several 
occasions,  paying  all  the  bills.  So  Abe 
handed  Roy  a  dollar  and  went  home  hap- 
pily. 

This  seemed  to  appeal  to  Roy's  author- 
host  who  evidently  made  a  mental  note 
of  the  story,  for  a  few  months  later  it 
came  out  in  a  very  interesting  short 
story  in  one  of  the  magazines. 

On  one  occasion,  one  of  the  leading 
colleges  for  women  in  the  East  invited 
Roy  to  give  a  lecture  on  the  moun- 
taineer, and  among  the  stories  he  told  to 
the  girls,  the  one  that  appealed  to  them 
the  most  was  an  account  of  a  mountain 
courtship. 

It  happened  that  one  of  Roy's  young 


212  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

men  missionaries,  who  had  the  habit  of 
saying  nice  things  to  girls  if  only  to 
please  them,  one  day  made  a  flatter- 
ing remark  about  a  young  lady's  eyes, 
comparing  them  in  beauty  with  the 
stars.  The  young  lady,  of  course, 
thought  the  young  worker  was  in  earn- 
est, and  responded  as  best  she  could, 
though  much  embarrassed.  She  went 
straight  home  and  told  her  parents. 
Now  the  mountain  folks  are  not  given  to 
foolishness  or  frivolity,  but  are  in  dead 
earnest,  even  in  their  courtship.  The 
parents  of  the  girl  at  once  came  to  Roy 
and  told  him  they  thought  'Lize  and  the 
young  missionary  would  soon  be  mar- 
ried, and  as  the  young  man  seemed  to  be 
a  pretty  nice  fellow  they  had  no  objec- 
tion. The  missionary  had  thus  brought 


ROY'S  HONORS  818 


himself  into  a  very  awkward  dilemma  by 
easy  speech.  In  consequence,  the  young 
man  had  to  leave  and  take  up  work  else- 
where. The  frivolous  mind  is  ever  in 
danger  with  the  serious  mountaineer. 

Roy  and  Medora  are  still  living  in  a 
four-room  log  cabin  in  the  mountains. 
They  refuse  to  be  lured  away,  but  are 
content  to  remain  among  the  moun- 
taineers who  love  and  respect  them  for 
the  new  life  the  Roys  have  brought  into 
the  old  life  of  the  plateau  and  cove. 
There  they  have  settled  down  and  there 
they  are  determined  to  live  out  their 
useful  days.  Only  a  better  perspective 
in  time  is  now  needed  to  grasp  in 
full  what  Roy  in  the  Mountains  has 
accomplished.  The  foundations  have 
been  laid,  and  the  superstructure  is  go- 


814  ROY  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS 

ing  up  rapidly.  In  the  years  to  come  the 
character  of  Roy's  work  will  be  seen  to 
better  advantage  as  it  stands  the  test  of 
time. 

END. 


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